Ignominious departure for INGOs

Under fire for alleged assistance to LTTE and non -implementation of post-tsunami rebuilding pledges

By Chandani Kirinde

The Parliamentary Select Committee probing the activities of local and international Non-Governmental Organisations has found that several NGOs have acted in a manner hostile to national security while many others have failed to deliver on pledges on post-tsunami reconstruction work.

The Select Committee also states that hi-tech communication equipment and vehicles brought into the country by some NGOs operating mainly in the north east are unaccounted for and may have fallen into the hands of the LTTE. Particular concern has been raised with regard to the organisations involved in landmine clearing operations in the north east. While there is a record of the number of mines destroyed in government-controlled areas, there is no documented record of the work being done in LTTE-controlled areas. “We give these organisations explosives to destroy the mines but we cannot be certain whether the explosives are getting into wrong hands,” a Defence Ministry official had told the Committee. A catch-phrase among government officials involved in this programme now is, “while we de-mine, they re-mine.”

Explaining why the government was probing the activities of INGOs at a news conference last week, Defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella showed a certificate issued by one of the INGOs in question for an activity organised by it. Mr. Rambukwella pointed out that the certificate not only contained both the government emblem as well as the LTTE emblem but also referred to the ‘Sri Lanka Ministry of Health’, and the ‘LTTE Medical Department’.

Two of the organisations that were engaged in landmine clearing operations in the LTTE-controlled area had recently said they had concluded their work, but the equipment they had taken with them had been left in those areas, the defence official had said. The Committee has now instructed these organisations to bring back the equipment and hand them over to government authorities.

The equipment brought into the country, after the tsunami disaster, included vehicles fixed with Motorola communication equipment, satellite phones and radio trans-receivers. These were released to different NGOs and INGOs to assist them in their relief activities. The government granted a duty waiver on most of these vehicles. A report by the Auditor General earlier this year stated that these duty waivers were contrary to provisions in the Excise Duty Act. According to the report, the duty waiver of just 15 vehicles had cost the state Rs 66.2 million in tax losses. Answering the AG’s Department queries, the Director General of Customs said 401 vehicles had been imported for post-tsunami work up to the date of the audit,(August 2005) and many more after that . He said although the duty on these was computed it had been either waived or deferred on instructions received.

With these matters coming to light before the Parliamentary Committee, six INGOs were identified as having acted contrary to national security and their members have been asked to leave the country within two weeks. However, under the existing law, there is no provision to ban them and new lgislation is to be introduced soon to deal with this, The Sunday Times learns (See box story).Most people working for INGOs enter the country on a tourist visa that is given to them on arrival (a provision available to people from about 70 countries). They then proceed to register an organisation with the Social Services Ministry and carry on with their work.

Very little background checks are being carried out on the kind of work that is being done by these INGOs, Select Committee chairman JVP MP Vijitha Herath said.

Meanwhile, during a meeting with Sri Lanka Ambassadors/High Commissioners at the Parliament complex, on Thursday, Mr.Herath submitted suggestions on the criteria to be followed when issuing visas for those who want to enter Sri Lanka as NGO humanitarian workers. When processing applications they were asked to check on the past record of the NGO in humanitarian work, at least for the past five years, the source of its funds for its proposed activities in Sri Lanka and the area where it proposes to carry out its work.

The Missions were also requested to carry out security checks on those seeking visas to enter the country to work in these organisations and send their recommendations to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In instances where the NGOs seek to work in politically sensitive areas, approval for such work should be granted by the Defence Ministry.

Meanwhile, the Committee also states that although MOUs had been signed between INGOs and the government to reconstruct houses for tsunami victims, the implementation of the reconstruction work by the INGOs had been sluggish. Of the 65,782 housing units that NGOs and INGOs including UN organisations had pledged to construct only 3270 have been completed by last month while another 5962 were under construction.

These organisations had signed MOUs with the government and the required land for construction had been made available to the donors through the District Secrataries of each area. However, the actual construction work had been negligible according to a report submitted by the Reconstruction and Development Agency (RADA) to the Parliamentary Select Committee.

RADA is now planning to cancel its MOUs with several of these organisations and is seeking legal advice in this regard.

Meanwhile, the Secretariat for Co-ordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) said the Government has reviewed the work visas of certain members of four of the NGOs in view of continuing Police investigations into allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

These NGOs include Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) France, MSF – Spain, Medicos Del Mundo –(Spain) and Doctors of the World.

However, until such time that investigations are completed, the visas of these organisations will remain valid, SCOP said in a news release.