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Summary US has expressed concern at decision of Pakistan to expel foreign staffers of NGO Save the Children.
The acting deputy spokesperson of the US State Department, Patrick Ventrell, during a briefing Thursday, was asked about the decision taken by Pakistan government that all foreign staff of international NGO Save the Children should leave the country within two weeks. He said that the US administration had taken up this issue with Pakistan government.Like other donor countries, the United States strongly supports the work of Save the Children in Pakistan. We are deeply concerned and have raised this issue with the Government of Pakistan and urged it to allow Save the Children to continue its important work, he revealed.Mr Ventrell went on to appreciate the work of international development agencies in countries like Pakistan. Independent NGOs are among the essential building blocks of any healthy democracy. So in Pakistan, as in other countries, we urge governments to help create an environment in which they can operate productively, he maintained.When probed that at what level had the US taken-up this issue with Pakistan, he said that the American embassy in Islamabad was looking into it. Well, certainly our Embassy out in Islamabad has. I’ll have to check in and see if we’ve also raised it through other channels or here from Washington, but our Embassy most definitely has been in direct touch, he observed.Apparently no official reason has been given to Save the Children for this abrupt decision. However, they are accused by the government of helping the CIA track Osama bin Laden through Dr Shakeel Afridi that led to his killing on May 2nd last year in Abbottabad. Dr Afridi remains in custody in Pakistan and has already been sentened to 33 years in prison.Save the Children is one of the leading global organizations working for the rights and better living conditions of children. They have been working in Pakistan for more than 30 years now and over 2000 of their staffers currently in the country are believed to be foreigners.- Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC
