20 NGOs probed for receiving foreign funding, says Nur Jazlan

About 20 of 50,000 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) registered with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) have been investigated, since November, for allegedly receiving funds from individuals and organisations abroad.

Deputy Home Affairs Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed expects more NGOs to come under the microscope, since the police have no plans to put a halt to this investigation.

"The probe needs to be done to ensure that NGOs do not become a front for certain parties that plan to undermine democracy because many countries in the West and Asia may also have been toppled by outsiders using the NGOs," Nur Jazlan told reporters after launching the search for Ikon Muslimah Johor 2016 in Johor Baru today.

The NGOs probed includes Bersih, whose chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah has been accused of using funds received from Open Society Foundations (OSF) to undermine parliamentary democracy in Malaysia.

News reports said OSF, chaired by George Soros, not only channelled funds to Bersih but also to other local organisations with the aim to influence the result of general elections.

Nur Jazlan said although the inflow of foreign funds is the responsibility of Bank Negara, the police must ensure that the funds are not used to undermine democracy.

Yesterday, Nur Jazlan attended a forum with Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Paul Low Seng Kuan, in Kuala Lumpur to discuss how best to regulate the funds received from local and international parties.

On the allegation that some NGOs had been victimised by the police during the probe, the Nur Jazlan said the issue did not arise at all.

"If there is victimisation, we will probe the matter. We only probe NGOs that receive the funds and use them for activities other than those stated in their constitutions," he added.

- Bernama