The United States of America has suspended its military aid to Pakistan, based on poor administration, corruption and a perceived duplicity in regards
\n to Pakistan’s relationship with militant groups such as the Taliban and the Haqqani network<\/p>\n
An announcement was made today that the US would suspend security assistance to Pakistan for failing to take decisive action against the taliban militants
\n who are targeting US personnel in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
The suspension follows a tweet by President Donald Trump posted on January 1st 2018, in which he questioned the value of US investment into Pakistan
\n for the purposes of making the middle-east region more stable. He wrote:<\/p>\n
“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”<\/span> <\/twitterwidget>\n<\/div>\n Spokeswoman for the United States Department of State Heather Nauert said the restrictions covered security assistance above and beyond the $US255 million Ms Nauert said details were still being worked out on the additional funds, and referred questions to the Defence Department. On the same day, the State Department accused Pakistan of severe violations of religious freedom, adding the country to a special watch list, pursuant The decision to restrict security assistance has raised concern about other types of aid that may be terminated for Pakistan. <\/p>\n USAID provided more than $46 million (\u00a334m) in 2017 ‘to respond to the complex emergency in Pakistan. With USAID support, UN and non-governmental organization On frequent occasions, Christian charities on the ground have reported that Muslim NGO’ s working with USAID have refused aid to Christians after attempts In 2006, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) implemented a 9 million dollar contract through USAID to install a computerised electoral USAID, IFES, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) have also coordinated a number Despite the move to an electoral system and the enhanced training of election officials Pakistan’s Electoral Commission has failed to address the low number “NADRA has supported the Election Commission of Pakistan in verifying the unique voters via National Citizen Database. All unverified voters are removed and they are not allowed to conduct a vote. Out of a number of 81 Million voters, 36 Million were verified. SMS based facility on 8300 is also activated for support of the voters. This SMS service provides details of the physical polling area for the specific vote, hence, educating and facilitating the nation to vote.”<\/span><\/p>\n It is believed by Christian NGO’s in Pakistan that the reported 1.6% of the population registered as Christian on Pakistan’s Government website is incorrect The fudging of numbers on the census exacerbates this situation even more as it means that less government roles are provided than required, not that there Failure to reach Christian communities by Election officers and reports of corrupt officials replacing the correct faith of illiterate Christians with Further still, concerns about the ability for converts out of Islam to alter their religious status on identification documents underlines the ongoing In recent weeks riots brought Pakistan to a standstill after attempts were made to alter existing Islamic biases in the oath made by parliamentarians in Years of electoral investment with the support of foreign agencies have proved to be futile in improving the existing system.<\/p>\n Pakistan has often been criticised for internal corruption which has been detrimental to the country\u2019s economic, political and foreign aid standing. U.S. Concerns were also raised that officials were being paid bribes as a means to progress on projects in the region. This had led to US officials determining Several reports from Pakistan also suggest that large amounts of foreign aid were being used to fund Pakistan’s war against India. In total US officials <\/span>In 2015, Pakistan was reportedly bucking the global trend with an increasing aid budget for Education at $649m (\u00a3479m). It was noted that some sub-Saharan David Cameron, came close to accusing Pakistan of exporting terrorism during a conference in Bangalore, India in 2010 (click here)<\/strong><\/a>. Britain continues to maintain Pakistan as it’s largest foreign aid recipient despite no attempts by the Pakistani Government to tax it’s wealthy citizens, Only 1% of the Pakistani citizens pay tax of whom it is believed the majority are Christian sweepers and cleaners involved in the visible positive discrimination Last year despite the reduction in care for elderly British citizens and a struggling NHS the British Government increased our foreign aid to Pakistan Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the BPCA, said:<\/p>\n “BPCA has for many years called for better vetting of the use of British and other foreign aid budgets to Pakistan or their removal. <\/span><\/p>\n “We are supportive and strongly in favour of the Trump Administrations recent decision as Pakistan has shown few signs of any positive action towards limiting the Taliban or Haqqani network movement.<\/span><\/p>\n “Moreover the assassination of Osma Bin Ladin through a covert US operation in 2011, whilst he was residing in a fortified building within a military cantonment only 100km from Pakistan’s capital, raises serious concerns about their desire to take on the Taliban and suggests a more pernicious relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n “In recognising Pakistan on the US Special Watch List for religious violations, the Trump Administration have brought great relief to hundreds of Pakistani Christian NGO’s who have been challenging for persecution to be recognised by western nations since its inception. <\/span><\/p>\n “I do not agree with everything that Donald Trump does but his recent tweet has finally caused the much-needed inspection of Pakistan’s socio-political climate and poor Governance – for this he will be receiving my great thanks.<\/span><\/p>\n “Christians in Pakistan are caught in the bondage of slavery, many of their young women are raped and forced into Islamic marriage, they are bullied and murdered by fellow school children, they are burned alive in the streets, the majority serve as cleaners or sweepers or sewage workers and they are held hostage to bias laws such as the draconian blasphemy laws. <\/span><\/p>\n “If the US and Britain want to make the world a safer place, they should first help the Pakistan asylum seekers in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. The accounts that those rescued would give to western agencies would enable them to understand the true extent of depravity in the self-styled nation of the pure.<\/span><\/p>\n “Any foreign aid investment in Pakistan should prioritize the improvement in quality of life for minorities and should not be handed across to a government clearly unable to keep their noses out of the trough. <\/span><\/p>\n “Moreover with growing evidence that Pakistan is for all intents and purposes a country that exports terrorism, sanctions should be considered to prevent the proliferation of insurgents within the country. This would include sanctions on military supplies as evidence exists of military equipment being delivered to insurgent groups <\/span>
\n \n<\/p>\n
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Although it is not immediately clear how much money and material is to be withheld the US statement exhibits a significant level of frustration
\n with Pakistan’s attitude towards upholding their end of their agreement with the US.<\/p>\n
\n(\u00a3166 million) for Pakistani purchases of American military equipment that the administration held up in August.<\/p>\n
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Earlier, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said the policy on military aid was “still being formulated”.<\/p>\n
\nto 2016 legislation.<\/p>\n
\npartners provided emergency food assistance, as well as agriculture, nutrition, protection, shelter, and water, sanitation, and hygiene support, to conflict-
\nand disaster-affected populations.’ <\/p>\n
\nto convert the beleaguered Christians through aid inducement failed. <\/p>\n
\nrolls system for the Pakistani government.<\/p>\n
\nof initiatives to help train election officials in Pakistan. Part of this activity was the establishment of a Federal Election Academy and a library
\nto support the Election Commission of Pakistan. <\/p>\n
\nof individuals registered to vote in the country, currently less than 50% of the nation’s population are registered to vote, here is a statement taken
\nfrom the National Database and Registration Authority, today:<\/p>\n
\nand that figures should be at least double the amount. Moreover similar skewed figures for the Hindu demographic are believed to be a contrived
\nmechanism to retain a low 5% quota for minority candidates given access to government employments positions, in a positive discrimination agreement reached
\nas a consequence of western foreign aid.<\/p>\n
\nis much merit in these government roles that are made available to religious minorities. After all, the quota system is positive dicrimination at its worst
\ncovering only menial government employment roles in the roles of road sweepers, sewage workers and cleaners.<\/p>\n
\nan Islamic identity are some of the concerns raised by campaigners. Many Christians are also too frightened to place their faith on electoral sheets for
\nfear of being targeted. <\/p>\n
\nprejudice in the country held by top level officials (click here)<\/a>.<\/b>
\nThis also reinforces the complexity of concerns regarding an accurate measure of the number of Christians in Pakistan.<\/p>\n
\nPakistan (click here)<\/a>. <\/b><\/p>\n
\nofficials have previously castigated the significant consulting fees and administration overheads for administration of US Aid.<\/p>\n
\nthat channelling the aid through Pakistani agencies would lead to a more effective implementation of the foreign aid especially as Pakistani civilian bureaucracies
\ndid not have the capacity to be effective aid implementing partners.<\/p>\n
\nbelieve that over 50% of aid provided to Pakistan had become ineffective.<\/p>\n
\ncountries that needed it more were receiving no aid. Britain was one of the largest funders with a \u00a3225m budget agreed for holistic educational reform
\ndespite a 2013 report by the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom highlighting serious concerns about Pakistan’s national curriculum
\nthat demonized and caricatured minorities, even going as far as labelling Christians as spies for the west.<\/p>\n
\nShortly after his statement he made Pakistan the largest foreign aid recipient from Britain and agreed to place his trust in Pakistan Security forces,
\neven though nearly half of the terrorist plots against Britain come from Pakistan’s lawless north-west frontiers (click here)<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\na caveat introduced by David Cameron as part of his 2011 package. In the Guardian newspaper PM David Cameron was quoted as saying that he could justify
\nthe move domestically only if the Pakistani elite paid more taxes. He also said that Pakistan suffered from “weaknesses in terms of government capacity
\nand waste”. <\/p>\n
\nquota for government employment. In essence these Christians are paying an Islamic Jizya tax for their safety and protection.<\/p>\n
\nby \u00a3105m (click here)<\/strong><\/a>. A move that seems ludicrous
\nwhen reports of corruption with US Aid and our own continuining despite agreed tighter measures for accountability and traceability.<\/p>\n
\n(click here)<\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n