BISHKEK. April 8 (Interfax) - Non-governmental organizations funded from abroad will need to reregister as foreign representatives in Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov said in an interview with the Kabar news agency.
"A key goal of adopting the NGO law was to reregister non-governmental organizations funded from abroad and to give them the status of a foreign representative," Japarov said.
NGOs working in Kyrgyzstan for 30 years were not registered anywhere and did not report to anyone, while spending funds on their own needs instead of social work, he said.
"According to the Justice Ministry, about 25,000 NGOs are registered in the country, and about 2,000 of them are funded by foreign donors and their contributions. They will be reregistered. There will be a separate register for foreign representatives. They will continue working as they did until today. I guarantee the absence of any persecution," Japarov said.
Certain NGO representatives are misleading the public claiming that they have been previously registered and submitted reports to the government, he said.
"The government needs to know what exactly the money received from abroad is spent on. What I have said on a social network has precisely this context. All NGOs perfectly understood what I said, but smiled and said, 'We are registered'. Which of them are registered as 'foreign representatives'. None of them has such registration. That's what I meant. The law was adopted. They must work according to the new rules," Japarov said.
Japarov signed the NGO bill, passed by the Kyrgyz parliament in March, into law on April 2. The document was repeatedly reviewed and amended, and the provision criminalizing the establishment of NGOs that encroach on the personality and rights of citizens was excluded from it. The decision resulted from correspondence between Japarov and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Blinken voiced concern about the NGO bill considered by the Kyrgyz parliament, as the bill "has the potential to limit or end the operation of organizations that are delivering critical assistance to the Kyrgyz people," he said.
"Restricting the work of these organizations and allowing for unbridled government interference in their operations could prevent the provision of U.S. assistance that improves health care and education, strengthens the rule of law, improves delivery of public services, and expands economic opportunity for Kyrgyzstanis," Blinken said then.
Japarov said in his response that the bill aimed to clarify and streamline NGO operations in Kyrgyzstan, and asked Washington not to interfere in Kyrgyz internal affairs.
"Society and the state must see where [and] what foreign sources the funding of a particular non-governmental organization comes from, and to what ends. Our requirements are clear and supported by the public. They fully meet the constitution and our international obligations," Japarov said.