Pakistan: Government orders 18 NGOs to shut down and leave the country

As Reuters reported on 4 October 2018, Pakistan"s Minister of the Interior has ordered 18 NGOs to leave the country and cease all operations within 60 days. Thomas Muller, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, is not surprised: "This is just the latest move in a series of action aimed against civil society organizations. Most of the 18 NGOs were active in the human rights sphere, ranging from poverty alleviation to women and children empowerment. At the moment it would seem that the government is most concerned about the foreign ties such organizations have and the foreign funding they receive. It is very possible that in a next step, Christian NGOs will come under government scrutiny as well. As reported by the Catholic News Agency on 8 October 2018, the Catholic Relief Agency and World Vision were among the 18 NGOs named, but they have been allowed to file for re-registration. That may well have been made possible in order to quell international criticism."