Islamabad: Pakistan has halted and put a temporary suspension on its orders to shut down British charity organisation, 'Save the Children' after what it claims, “international pressure and the UK and US forcing them into one side.”
“The organisation can continue its work in Pakistan until further orders,” said a senior official, adding that Pakistan was tightening regulation of all international charities. Saeed Ahmed, a spokesman for Save the Children in Pakistan, said that they had heard no word from the government. “We would appreciate relevant government authorities to communicate to us officially,” he said. The interior ministry said the earlier decision to ban the 'Save the Children' has been "held in abeyance till further order", which means that the groups can continue its work as it was doing before.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that parliament was "deliberating on exposing" the "many" foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) "working against Pakistan". Islamabad faced a lot of flak and condemnation after it shut down offices of the international aid group on June 12. The organisation was ordered to shut down and given 15 days to leave by the government on allegations of the staff members working 'against Pakistan’s interest'.
'Save the Children' has been under the spotlight since 2012, when a Pakistani doctor running the campaign was arrested by the country's intelligence services and accused of working undercover for the CIA, using cheek swabs of Bin Laden's children to gather DNA evidence. The organisation of course has always denied any knowledge of the doctor's work outside the charity's behalf.
