PMO orders reinstatement of Muslim Aid-UK registration, sets conditions

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has directed the NGO Affairs Bureau to withdraw its cancellation of Muslim Aid-UK’s registration in Bangladesh and reinstate it, subject to the organisation reconstituting its board of directors and management and complying with all conditions imposed at the time of its original registration.

The directive was issued in a letter signed by Habibul Hasan, director-3 at the PMO, on 17 August and addressed to the director general of the NGO Affairs Bureau.

According to the letter, the NGO Affairs Bureau cancelled the registration of Muslim Aid-UK, Bangladesh, on 13 August under the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Act, 2016.

The organisation’s Country Director Muhsin Siddiqi subsequently appealed against the cancellation order.

After hearing the appeal, the PMO directed the NGO Affairs Bureau to withdraw the cancellation order and take the necessary steps to reinstate the organisation’s registration.

However, the reinstatement is subject to two conditions.

Muslim Aid-UK must reconstitute its board of directors and management, while all conditions imposed at the time of its original registration will remain in force.

The PMO has also informed relevant ministries and government agencies, including Bangladesh Bank and the NGO Affairs Bureau, of the decision.

The latest development effectively paves the way for the reinstatement of Muslim Aid-UK’s registration in Bangladesh, just days after the NGO Affairs Bureau cancelled it.

Previous restrictions

Muslim Aid-UK’s activities in Bangladesh have previously faced government restrictions.

In 2017, the then Awami League government imposed restrictions on the organisation’s activities related to Rohingya refugees, along with those of two other NGOs operating in the country.

Muslim Aid was founded in London in November 1985 by 23 British Muslim organisations in response to the famine in Africa.

Even before establishing a permanent office in Bangladesh, the organisation directed emergency relief funds to areas affected by widespread flooding in the country in its first year of operation.

Following the 1991 cyclone, Muslim Aid established formal field operations in Bangladesh, providing emergency aid, building cyclone shelters and launching long-term agricultural and livelihood development projects.