Foreigners, foreign funded NGO's barred from visiting anywhere without permission

[Naveed Yaseen]

By M Waqar Bhatti
KARACHI: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed the four provincial governments not to allow foreign diplomats, journalists and representatives of foreign-funded NGOs to visit any part of the country, especially sensitive areas, without getting prior permission from it.

In a letter to the four provincial chief secretaries, the foreign ministry said in recent days, the frequency of visits of foreigners, including diplomats, journalists and members of foreign-funded NGOs, had increased in areas close to strategic sites and facilities.

It further reminded them that as per the standard operating procedure, a foreign diplomat or a mission applies to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for permission to visit any part of the country.

After due diligence and obtaining clearance from all quarters concerned, (foreign) missions are informed of the decision accordingly, the letter said. The foreign ministry said it had been observed with great concern that at times in the absence of requisite permission, officials of the local administration had organised and facilitated these visits of foreigners.

The primary reason of this, the letter said, is that normal procedure of seeking permission to visit areas, especially districts close to the strategic sites and facilities, had been circumvented. “Thus, it becomes impossible for the (foreign) ministry to monitor such visits,” the letter maintained.

More concern was expressed in the foreign ministry’s letter on the upsurge of visits to places like DG Khan, Chashma/Mianwali and Sargodha.In addition, the ministry said, restricted areas in all the four provinces were also being visited by diplomats, foreign journalists and members of foreign NGOs.

The foreign ministry said while the ministry would itself follow the SOPs on the subject, the chief secretaries were requested to convey to all districts in their jurisdiction to seek permission for foreigners’ visit and if permission was granted for any such visit, get it re-checked with the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

An official in a national security agency told The News on condition of anonymity that activities of foreigners had crossed limits in the country and there were incidents when they were found involved in unlawful activities in Pakistan.

“People would not have forgotten an incident a couple of years back when some foreign journalists, probably French, had been arrested, who hired some local people to pose as Taliban in Balochistan and they were filming their fake presence in the country,” the official said.

The official claimed it was also learnt that some foreign journalists were meeting with people in Karachi, who were being introduced as the Taliban settled in the metropolis, and all this was being done by locals for exchange of money from foreigners.

“In turn, these foreign journalists are propagating the presence of the Taliban in areas where they are not present and spreading many other phony stories,” the security agency official claimed.

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