Espionage fears keep govt from allowing NGOs’ access to IDPs
Suspicions over the role of some local and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have led the federal government to block direct access of local and foreign donors and NGOs to the internally displaced families of North Waziristan Agency (NWA).
Sources in the federal government informed Pakistan Today that authorities have decided to discourage any request from NGOs seeking access to the IDPs following reports that foreign agents are attempting to recruit NWA locals for “spying”.
The source said that 28 local and foreign NGOs have applied for no-objection certificates (NoCs) to access the IDPs but no NoC has been issued so far. “Their applications are being examined and any action would be taken up accordingly,” he said.
NGOS WANT ACCESS TO IDPS, JUST LIKE BANNED OUTFITS:
During a seminar held by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), representatives of various NGOs confronted State and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Minister General (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch, enquiring why NGOs were not being issued NoCs to approach the IDPs, whereas banned outfits (like Jamaatud Dawa) are freely operating there.
ARMY DENIES RESTRICTION ON NGOS:
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Domestic Media Assistant Director Lieutenant Colonel Shafiq Malik told Pakistan Today that there is no restriction on NGOs to contribute in relief efforts for the IDPs.
“There is a specific procedure for getting NoCs from the federal government. Once approved by the government, any NGO can work for the IDPs,” he said. He denied reports of banned outfits helping the IDPs, adding that initially there were such reports but since the army took control of the relief efforts, no banned outfit was working in the area now.
SHAKEEL AFRIDI STILL FRESH IN GOVT’S MIND:
A source in the Foreign Office told Pakistan Today that the decision to restrict direct access of the INGOs to NWA IDPs was based on lessons learnt from experience.
The source said that the government had made a mistake after the 2005 earthquake by allowing donors and NGOs to directly access the calamity-hit people.
“Foreign agents disguised as NGO workers got access to the earthquake victims and spread their networks across the tribal areas where no such humanitarian work was being carried out,” the official said, citing the objectionable role played by an INGO “Save the Children” by introducing Dr Shakeel Afridi who had collaborated with the CIA in tracking down al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden through a phoney vaccination campaign conducted in Abbottabad in 2011.
“Under these circumstances, the Foreign Ministry has recommended the federal government not to seek foreign funding for the IDPs and all possible resources are being mobilised for this purpose,” said a Foreign Office official.
He said that British High Commissioner Philip Barton met Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on July 4, offering the international community’s help for the IDPs but the government had did not show any eagerness in this regard.