ISLAMABAD: Succumbing to international pressure, the government on Wednesday allowed the previously banned international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) to continue to work in the country till a final decision on their appeals against the government’s decision to cancel their registration.

According to an official announcement issued by the ministry, the decision had been made in the light of the directives issued by Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal “keeping in view the country’s image at international level and operational affairs of the INGOs”.

The directive came after the minister’s meeting with a delegation of ambassadors from important countries, including the United States and the European Union.

The government had last month ordered 21 INGOs to stop their activities and leave the country due to their failure to get themselves registered again under the policy and regulations announced by the interior ministry in 2015.

The INGOs, however, are entitled to file an appeal against the government’s action within 90 days.

The ambassadors who called on the minister included US Ambas­sador David Hale, EU Ambassador Jean Francois Cautain, Australian High Commissioner Margaret Adamson, Canadian Ambassador Perry Calderwood, Norwegian Ambassador Tore Nedrebo and UK High Commissioner Thomas Drew.

In the meeting, the minister asserted that INGOs played a vital role in the development sector and their contribution to socio-economic development was always welcomed and commendable. However, he said, the peculiar circumstances in Pakistan called for monitoring the operations and funding sources of the INGOs to ensure that no extremism-related NGO was able to secure foreign funding.

Mr Iqbal explained that the applications of the INGOs for registration had mostly been rejected on the grounds of non-compliance with the requisite registration process.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2018