Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government is unlikely to relax the registration process for international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), and carry on with the policy adopted by the previous government.
According to a report in the local media, a top official at the Ministry of Interior said that the registration policy of INGOs is currently the same as the one devised by the interior ministry a couple of years ago. However, it is unsure whether the present government goes for a change or not.
During the last quarter of 2015, former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had formulated a policy under which all INGOs operating in Pakistan or desirous of operating in the country were required to register themselves with the Ministry of Interior by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU).
At present, 141 INGOs have applied online for registration with the Ministry of Interior. Of them, 66 have the status of ‘approved INGOs’ while the registration process of 72 INGOs is still underway. Besides, 63 INGOs have signed the MoU so far.
It was earlier reported that several countries have been putting diplomatic pressure on Pakistan to relax the process of registration of INGOs.
According to the reports, ambassadors to Pakistan of the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, Norway, Switzerland and a few EU countries had written a joint letter to the new government a week back, expressing their concern over the strict registration process. The foreign ambassadors were of the view that the INGO registration process had further narrowed the operation space for international partners engaged in development cooperation in the country.
At that point, a top official of the ministry had said that existing policy on INGOs was being implemented. However, he added that things were not yet clear and government policies on the matter were awaited.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi in his first media interaction said that the interior ministry would soon announce a comprehensive policy on the implementation of the National Action Plan on Counter Terrorism (NACTA), INGOs regulations and other major issues related to internal security.