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Pakistan orders international charity to leave

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Government accuses Save the Children aid group of working against national interest and seals its offices in Islamabad.

A spokesperson for Save the Children confirmed that its office in Islamabad had been sealed off without warning [AFP]

A spokesperson for Save the Children confirmed that its office in Islamabad had been sealed off without warning [AFP]

by Al Jazeera

Pakistani authorities have sealed off the offices of the international aid group Save the Children, saying the charity was “working against the country”, police and government officials say.

Government officials accompanied by police arrived at the charity’s office in the heart of the capital Islamabad on Thursday after working hours and placed a lock on the compound gate.

“We have sealed the office of Save the Children on government instructions,” Kamran Cheema, a senior government official, told the AFP news agency.

“We don’t know the reasons behind this order. We were sent a three-line notification by the interior ministry saying that this office should be sealed and all the expatriate staff be sent back to their countries within 15 days.”

The government did not make any formal announcement but an official from the interior ministry told AFP that the agency was involved in “anti-Pakistan activities”.

“Their activities were being monitored since a long time. They were doing something which was against Pakistan’s interest,” said the official without giving his name because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Strong objection

A spokesperson for Save the Children confirmed in a statement that its office had been sealed off without warning.

“Save the Children was not served any notice to this effect. We strongly object to this action and are raising our serious concerns at the highest levels,” the spokesperson said.

“Save the Children has worked in Pakistan for more than 35 years and we currently have 1,200 [Pakistani] staff members working across the nation.

“All our work is designed and delivered in close collaboration with the government ministries across the country, and aims to strengthen public service delivery systems in health, nutrition, education and child welfare.”

Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Haripur in Pakistan, said on Friday that the suspicion against Save the Children started after the successful US mission to find al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

In 2012 a Pakistan intelligence report linked the aid group to Pakistani doctor Shakeel Afridi who was allegedly used by the CIA to carry out a fake vaccination programme as they searched for bin Laden.

The charity’s expatriate staff were forced to leave Pakistan after the accusations emerged.

Save the Children has always denied it had any links with Afridi or the CIA.

Our correspondent said the crackdown on the charity have come amid government efforts to introduce stricter controls on nongovernmental organisations and charities through the legislature.

“There has been deep suspicion with the government that [these groups] have colluded with foreign powers,” he said.

'Forty migrants drown in Mediterranean': Save the Children

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Migrants wait to disembark from military ship "Bettica" following a rescue operation at sea on May 5, 2015 in the port of Salerno, southern Italy. (AFP/Mario Laporta)

Migrants wait to disembark from military ship “Bettica” following a rescue operation at sea on May 5, 2015 in the port of Salerno, southern Italy. (AFP/Mario Laporta)

by Al Bawaba

Forty migrants drowned off the coast of Italy when a boat trying to reach Europe either deflated or burst from the heat, survivors told the organization Save the Children.

According to Reuters, some of the 194 survivors told the activist group the deaths occurred on Sunday. The survivors came from several African countries including Gambia, Senegal, Ghana, Mali and the Ivory Coast. AFP said there were 137 people on board.

Human traffickers have increased their attempts to smuggle people out of conflict-torn countries to try to reach Europe as spring weather has calmed seas and provided good weather. The UN has estimated more than 1,700 migrants have died in the Mediterranean so far this year.

Aid group: 400 feared dead after migrant boat capsizes

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Italy’s coastguard rescued 144 from ship off Libya, but survivors tell Save the Children that hundreds were on board.

Coastguard helped rescue 144 people and launched an air and sea search operation in hopes of finding others [AP]

Coastguard helped rescue 144 people and launched an air and sea search operation in hopes of finding others [AP]

by Al Jazeera

Survivors of a capsized migrant boat off Libya have told the aid group Save the Children that an estimated 400 people are believed to have drowned.

The Italian coastguard had helped rescue 144 people on Monday and immediately launched an air and sea search operation in hopes of finding others.

“According to their stories, they all departed from Libya, more than 550 people on the same boat that capsized only 24 hours after they departed,” Carlotta Bellini, a Save the Children spokeswoman in Rome, told Al Jazera.

The coastguard said it assumed that there were many dead given the size of the ship and that nine bodies had been found.

The deaths, if confirmed, would add to the skyrocketing numbers of migrants lost at sea: The International Organization for Migration estimates that up to 3,072 migrants are believed to have died in the Mediterranean in 2014, compared to an estimate of 700 in 2013.

William Spindler, a specialist on asylum and refugee issues at the UNHCR, said that due to conflict in places like Syria and the Horn of Africa, the number of people trying to find safety in Europe has increased “enormously” since last year.

Spindler said that to end the tragedies at sea, people smuggling needs to be combated, and the capacity to rescue people at sea increased.

“At the same time we need to open the possibility for refugees to come legally to Europe so that they don’t need to take these dangerous journeys,” he told Al Jazeera.

“And very importantly, we need to help countries that are hosting the vast majority of refugees in the world, countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya … We need to make sure they can continue to keep refugees safe – because otherwise refugees will continue these journeys and risk their lives to find safety in Europe.”

The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, said Italy’s coastguard had saved about 8,500 migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean since Friday.

“Those rescued since last Friday included an estimated 3,000 people in four boats and 16 dinghies rescued on Monday,” the agency said in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, the European Union’s top migration official said the EU must quickly adapt to the growing numbers of migrants trying to reach its shores.

“The unprecedented influx of migrants at our borders, and in particular refugees, is unfortunately the new norm and we will need to adjust our responses accordingly,” the EU’s commissioner for migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, told lawmakers in Brussels.

More than 280,000 people entered the European Union illegally last year. Many came from Syria, Eritrea and Somalia and made the perilous sea journey from conflict-torn Libya.

European coastguards have been overwhelmed by the numbers. Since the weather has begun to warm, even more people have been fleeing conflict and poverty, trying to reach Europe.

Uproar as Tony Blair given 'Global Legacy' award from renowned charity

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‘We consider this award inappropriate and a betrayal to Save the Children’s founding principles and values,’ charge Save the Children staff.

Tony Blair pictured at the Munich Security Conference 2014. (Photo: Marc Müller/cc)

Tony Blair pictured at the Munich Security Conference 2014. (Photo: Marc Müller/cc)

by Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams

International charity Save the Children is facing uproar, including from internal staff, for granting the “global legacy award” to former UK Prime Minister and Iraq War architect Tony Blair.

The award was given to Blair by the U.S. arm of the organization at a gala in New York City last week. Save the Children, which claims “protecting children from harm” as a key mission, lauded Blair for his alleged role heading anti-poverty initiatives at the 2005 Group of Eight summit in Scotland and for his “continued commitment to Africa.”

The move unleashed a torrent of criticism, including a petition, with over 90,000 signatures so far, calling on Save the Children to revoke the award on the basis that Blair is seen by many as “the cause of the deaths of countless children in the Middle East with damning allegations relating to his role as Middle East envoy and businesses dealings with autocratic rulers and others in the region.”

Critiques erupted across social media platforms, including Twitter:

Within Save the Children, an internal letter denouncing the award as “morally reprehensible” gathered nearly 200 signatures, including from some senior staff members, the Guardian reports.

“We consider this award inappropriate and a betrayal to Save the Children’s founding principles and values,” the letter states. “Management staff in the region were not communicated with nor consulted about the award and were caught by surprise with this decision.”

Staff warned that the award threatens the credibility of Save the Children, given that figures at the head of the charity have close ties with Blair, including John Forsyth, UK chief executive for Save the Children, who was a special adviser to Blair for three years.

Krista Armstrong, global media manager for the charity, reportedly told theGuardian last week that Save the Children has received a “high volume of complaints and negative reactions to rewarding the award.”

Blair was also awarded as “philanthropist of the year” by GQ in September—a decision that was also met with widespread criticism and shock.

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