A meeting chaired by the Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Tuesday decided to accord approval to 19 INGOs to work in Pakistan in their respective fields.
The process of granting them formal approval will be completed within one week by the INGO Committee.
The meeting discussed issues including the deliberations during recently held meeting of Joint Re-admission Committee in Brussels, the present status of ECL, the progress made so far on the registration of INGOS, monitoring the capacity of private security companies besides security arrangements put in place for the educational institutions and media houses.
The interior minister appreciated the efforts of the Interior Ministry in reaching out an agreement with the EU wherein the EU showed complete understanding of Pakistan’s concerns over issue of deportees and various loopholes in the implementation of EURA and has assured to address these issues in line with the Re-admission Accord, the immigration laws and the SOPs developed by MoI.
The interior minister observed that EU’s understanding of Pakistan’s legitimate concerns and the consensus achieved during the meeting would create a win-win situation that would not only help in further strengthening mutual cooperation in this area, but would also provide momentum to the efforts aimed at addressing the issue of illegal immigrants and human trafficking, besides addressing serious human rights concerns being faced by Pakistani immigrants.
The meeting was also briefed about the current status of ECL. It was informed that after due deliberations and formulation of new SOP by Ministry of Interior, the figure of ECL has come down from more than 14000 to around 3000 at present. The Minister termed it a great achievement in streamlining a system grossly misused in the past.
The minister observed that in the new ECL policy, discretion and personal likes and dislikes have been completely eliminated which has not only made it a totally objective and transparent procedure but has also subjected it to the rule of law and safeguarding the rights of the person placed on ECL.
The meeting also discussed formulating a new SOP regarding private security companies. The minister directed that in the first phase, 196 security companies of the federal capital should be given notices to provide their complete details including number of employees, offices, training mechanism etc to the interior ministry within one week, failing which their permission to operate is liable to be cancelled.
The minister said that security companies will have to provide genuine service to their clients else their permission would be revoked. He said that it is imperative that security companies must own and equip their personnel with the required fire-arms and training while also ensuring rights of the employees.
Those license holders whose only objective is to make money without providing due service and security will not be allowed to function.
The private security companies can provide valuable help to law enforcement agencies in maintaining law and order and ensuring security.
In order to review the security of schools, media houses and other important installations in the federal capital, the minister decided to convene a meeting of all the stakeholders on Thursday, wherein CDA shall also put forth concrete proposals to shift over 350 private schools currently located in residential areas.
