THE Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration has issued an ultimatum to 50 international NGOs to legalise their operations in the country or face the long arm of the law.

The  Head of the NGOs Division; Claudette Umulisa, told The New Times yesterday that the NGOs have failed to comply with requirements in line with their operations.

"The NGOs listed have failed to follow instructions put in place by this institution which requires them to register their organisations every year,” she said.

Umulisa explained that the requirements were not many as the government was trying to make the procedure easier.
"For example, each NGO is required to hand in an annual report for the previous year, action plan for the current year, indication of source of funding, recommendation from the line Ministry, detailed budget and the activities it intends to work on with regard to Vision 2020,” she said.

Umulisa added that among those given an ultimatum are some that even completely failed to register in 2009.
She however explained that the law concerning the operation of NGOs in Rwanda was not clear and has in the past not made punishing such organisations a simple task.

"In the past, the law on NGOs was not clear and made things a bit complicated because it had loopholes.

However, the new law is in the Senate and will be out soon. It will clear all the confusion and make holding accountable these NGOs much easier,” she said
Umulisa said that her office had met with various district officials and advised them on how to ease the work of NGOs before and after their registration. 140 International NGOs are listed as having complied with the law so far this year.

The NGOs warned include Pharmacies International, Great Lakes Media Institute, Austrian Help Programme and Women Waging Peace, among others.

Ends