INGOs’ registration: Seven ambassadors express concerns in letter to state interior minister

ISLAMABAD: The ambassadors to Pakistan of the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Norway, Switzerland and the European Union (EU) have jointly written a letter to the new government to express their concern over the tightened registration process for international non-government organisations (INGOs).

In it, they stated that the registration process has further narrowed the operational space for international partners engaged in development cooperation in Pakistan. “We are writing to express our concerns about the recent developments in the registration process for INGOs as we are afraid that they may negatively impact our development cooperation with Pakistan,” read the ambassadors' letter to Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi.

A copy of the letter has been made available to The News. "You may be aware that the work of INGOs advances many of the priorities of the new government, including economic growth, agriculture development, water conservation, and social services - including helping Pakistan's poorest," the seven ambassadors wrote.

They stated that the INGO sector had collectively reached 34 million people in Pakistan with humanitarian relief and development assistance in 2017 alone.

The envoys acknowledged that it is essential that development partners and INGOs comply with the laws and policies of Pakistan. They also expressed support for the need for development assistance to be fully transparent and for partners working in Pakistan to be held accountable. "However, we are concerned about the implementation of some of these policiesand their impact on our, and our partners’, ability to operate,” they wrote.

The ambassadors referred to their discussions with the last government. After the launch of the INGO registration policy framework in 2015, 141 INGOs applied for registration. The work of 66 INGOs was approved by the end of 2017 but, “to our great concern”, 21 INGOs were informed that their registration was not accepted.

They said the letters received by the INGOs provided no explanation as to why their requests for registration were rejected. The time given to cease operations was 60 days and the time-frame for appeals was 90 days, meaning that INGOs risked having to close operations before their appeals were concluded.

The ambassadors’ previous letter of December 18, 2017 had requested that INGOs whose registrations had not been accepted be given a specific justification, based on transparent guidelines and further guidance on the appeal process.

“In addition, we requested that INGOs be allowed to continue operations during the appeal process and that, if their appeals were unsuccessful, they be given adequate time to wind down activities and leave the country”, they maintained.

The ambassadors said the former interior minister had responded to their letter positively and allowed the rejected INGOs to continue operations until the final decision on their appeals. However, on August 15, 2018, before the current government took office, at least 20 additional INGOs received rejection letters identical to those issued last December.

“We would like to underline that concerns regarding the content of the previous rejection letters are still relevant. It is of utmost importance to know whether the permission to continue operations until the final decisions on their appeals have been taken will also apply to the INGOs that were notified in August 2018. We would also appreciate being informed on the progress of the appeal process of the INGOs rejected in 2017,” the seven ambassadors wrote.

They reiterated their view that the work of INGOs is essential for the consolidation of a “vibrant democratic society like Pakistan and indeed to the achievement of the vision in your 100 Days’ agenda.”

“We again express our respective capitals’ serious concern that the difficulties of INGOs in registration is further narrowing the operational space for international partners and civil society to the detriment of our humanitarian and development cooperation in Pakistan” the joint letter concluded.