Islamic charity to freeze U.K banks

London , United Kingdom - Some Islamic charities in
the UK have considered moving their financial affairs
abroad amid concerns that they could be frozen out
of the British banking system after several Muslim
organisations and individuals linked to them had their
accounts closed without explanation.
HSBC, the UK’ s largest bank, faced accusations of
prejudice against Muslims after sending letters last
week to a London mosque, a Gaza- focused aid
charity , and the leader of a prominent Islamic think
tank notifying them that they were outside the bank's
" risk appetite" and giving them two months to
withdraw their money .
Those who received the letters included Anas
Altikriti , the head of the Cordoba Foundation think
tank and a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, who
said that HSBC had also written to members of his
family, including his 14- and 12 -year -old sons .
In a statement , the Cordoba Foundation said that
those affected had been " confronted with a wall of
silence " when they had sought further clarification
from the bank and called on HSBC to issue an
unequivocal apology.
Mohammed Kozbar, chairman of the Finsbury Park
Mosque, a mosque once associated with radical
preachers that reopened under entirely new
management in 2005, also received the letter and
said it might take legal action and called for a
customer boycott of the bank .
" Our legal advisor has said that while the bank has
acted within its terms and conditions, if they have
specifically targeted Muslim organisations then this
decision can be challenged under discrimination
laws ," said Kozbar .
Another organisation , the Muslim Association of
Britain, said it had opened an account with HSBC
earlier this year, only for the bank to close it three
days later, stating that it " did not meet the criteria to
hold a bank account ".
The dreaded 't -word '
A spokesman for another charity, Helping
Households Under Great Stress ( HHUGS), which
supports the families of Muslim prisoners accused of
terrorism offences , told Al Jazeera that its account
had been frozen with immediate effect in the past
month by another bank, Barclays.
" The impact is devastating. Your reputation takes a
hit obviously and the only thing I can see is the fact
that we deal with the families of people who are
suspected of being involved in terrorism , " Fahad
Ansari, a lawyer speaking on behalf of HHUGS, told
Al Jazeera .
" That T - word is obviously a risk factor for them, but
for us, we are dealing with women and children,
mothers and wives, and there is no reason why they
should be criminalised . There are scores of prisoner
support groups in this country and they have never
had any problems with bank accounts . Muslims are
second - class citizens and there is no other
explanation for it ."
CAGE , a civil liberties group that campaigns against
counter- terrorism policies, said that its accounts
with both Barclays and the Co -operative Bank had
been shut down earlier in the year after its director,
Moazzam Begg, was arrested and charged with
terrorism offences .
Begg has pleaded not guilty to the charges , while
CAGE has published a letter from the UK Treasury
confirming that it is not subject to any financial
restrictions.
" I think there has been some sort of pressure placed
on [the banks] , but we just don ' t know . A problem
with the lack of regulation in the banking sector is
that it is almost impossible to challenge these
things, " Asim Qureshi, CAGE 's research director , told
Al Jazeera .
" There appear to be forces at play that are seeking to
cripple organisations at the heart of Muslim
community ; it smacks of religious discrimination and
Islamophobia."
Number of banks involved growing
Abdurahman Sharif, operations manager at the
Muslim Charities Forum , said he knew of other
charities that had so far not identified themselves
publicly that had also had financial services
withdrawn .
" It' s not one bank , it 's a number of banks and it is
growing actually," Sharif told Al Jazeera. "The
problem is that once one bank does this it sets a
precedent that other banks follow. That is a serious
matter because in a couple of months you could see
no Islamic charities having a bank account in this
country."
Muslim aid charities have been under increased
scrutiny this year because of concerns that Britons
intent on fighting in Syria have been using
humanitarian convoys as cover to travel to the war
zone and fears that donations raised in the UK could
be reaching armed extremist groups.
William Shawcross , the head of the Charity
Commission , said in April that Islamic extremism
was "potentially the most deadly" problem that the
regulator faced .
But Sharif said greater scrutiny of charities ' finances
prompted by international money laundering
concerns and tougher UK counter-terrorism laws
had disproportionately affected Muslim charities .
" The issue is one of perception . People assume that
anything with the name 'Islamic ' on it is suspicious
and that is the biggest challenge we are facing at the
moment, and that is why we are seeing accounts
closed down ."
Last month, David Anderson, the UK 's reviewer of
terrorism legislation , said that the withdrawal of
banking services to charities because of more
stringent counter- terrorism legislation risked
impeding " positive and worthwhile NGO activity " and
called for dialogue between policy makers and NGOs
to resolve the issue .
But representatives of some affected charities
believe other factors may explain the banks'
withdrawal of services .
Linked to Gaza ?
Muhammad Ahmad, a spokesman for the Ummah
Welfare Trust , an aid charity given notice by HSBC,
said he believed the closure of the group' s account
was linked to its work in Gaza , where it maintains a
field office . The charity 's account also was shut
down by Barclays in 2008 during a previous Israeli
assault on the besieged Palestinian territory.
" People are dying on the ground . People don 't know
where to turn because they have lost everything and
all we are trying to do is give them some kind of
relief . The banks may have the financial power but
when it comes to weighing them on the scales of
morality, I wouldn' t say they had one percent left
now after what they have done, " Ahmad told Al
Jazeera.
Others criticised banks for taking action at a time
which affected charities ' ability to raise money during
Ramadan , their most important fundraising
opportunity of the year.
Ansari said that HHUGS had come close to closing
its doors after discovering its account had been
frozen just days before Ramadan when donors
reported that standing orders were being rejected.
The charity has previously had accounts closed by
two other banks , HSBC and Lloyds- TSB.
" We had literature that was published for Ramadan
with the bank details and all of that had to be thrown
in the bin and republished. We had no access to
funds , we had salaries to pay , rent and bills to pay ,
and apart from that we had our beneficiaries who
are reliant on us . Ultimately , thank God , we survived
but each time our income has diminished rapidly and
it is harder to get back on our feet."
Ansari said the charity was now considering moving
its financial affairs abroad .
" We are exploring all options at the moment. An
overseas account is far from ideal because it looks
suspicious and we incur charges , but we need to
have something in place so that we can carry on
with minimum disruption because what is happening
now is an absolute nightmare ."
Bank denies discrimination
HSBC told Al Jazeera that it had comprehensive
rules in place to ensure race and religion were never
factors in banking decisions and said discrimination
against customers was "immoral , unacceptable and
illegal" .
It said it had exited relationships with customers in
70 countries as part of a global review of its
businesses after being fined $ 1 .9 bn by US
authorities in 2012 over poor money laundering
controls exploited by Latin American drug cartels to
move hundreds of millions of dollars through HSBC
accounts .
The bank last year appointed Jonathan Evans, the
former chief of the UK 's MI5 intelligence agency and
an expert on Islamic extremism , to head a
committee tasked with reducing its vulnerability to
financial crime.
Barclays and the Co -operative Bank said they could
not comment on specific customers ' affairs.
In an Eid message last week , David Cameron , the
British prime minister, paid tribute to the " inspiring
amount of charity" participated in and funded by
British Muslims.
But charity officials say that access to banking
facilities is vital for transparency and good
governance and fear that fundraising and aid work in
Muslim communities could otherwise be driven
underground .
" The government has to understand that it is in their
interest that genuine charities are able to operate
freely without being hindered or abused in this way,"
said Ahmad.
" Otherwise you are going to force Muslims who may
have faith in some charities because of their Islamic
principles to take charity into their own hands, and
then the government will not know who the money is
reaching ."