African securityBlocking cash transfers to Somalia may help, rather than hinder, terrorism: Experts
In an effort to curb the flow of cash to terror networks in Somalia, U.S. treasury officials have pressured banks to cut off money transfers to the country. The move follows growing concerns among U.S. law-enforcement agencies about Somali émigrés with extremist Islamic views supporting Somali-based terror group al-Shabaab. Officials of several humanitarian groups worry that the move may backfire, as some Somalis who can no longer rely on cash transfers from the United States may soon join al-Shabaab or other criminal groups to make ends meet.
In an effort to curb the flow of cash to terror networks in Somalia, U.S. treasury officials have pressured banks to cut off money transfers to the country. “This is devastating. My sister-in-law is alone with seven children, no income and no help,” said Abdia Sheikh, an employee of the World Bank, who recently received news that her cash transfer agency, Dahabshiil, would no longer send money to her native country. “If it weren’t for the few hundred dollars my sisters and I send them every month, they would be evicted and have no way to buy food.”
The Treasury Department, Justice Department, and the FBI have raised alarms about Somali émigrés with extremist Islamic views supporting Somali-based terror group al-Shabaab. Last month, federal authorities placed Liban Mohamed on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list under suspicion that he was channeling funds to al-Shabaab and traveling home to join the group. Fearing that many other Somalis living in the United States are actively supporting al-Shabaab, federal officials have stepped up prosecution of banks when the transfer agencies they service are caught sending cash to illicit recipients. As a result, most large banks have stopped wiring funds for transfer agencies such as Dahabshiil. Smaller banks, eager for business and willing to accept the risk, now represent most of the cash transfer business to Somalia.
The Washington Post reports that last month, 85 percent of all U.S. cash transfers to Somalia went through Merchants Bank in California, which recently halted that part of its operations. Banking officials say smaller banks are being pressured to turn away profitable business for reasons they cannot control.
“The government wants these transactions to be fully transparent, but in a country like Somalia, there is no transparency,” said Robert Rowe, a vice president of the American Bankers Association in Washington, D.C.“You don’t know whether the money goes to feed a starving mother with six kids or to buy machine guns. You have law enforcement concerns on one side and humanitarian concerns on the other. The banks get caught in the middle.”
Roughly $200 million is sent every year to Somalia from émigrés who support their families back home. Lawmakers and aid agencies are working with U.S. officials to find alternatives ways for émigrés to transfer money to Somalia, while eliminating the risk of funding terrorism. “Eliminating the ability to send money into Somalia could throw the country and its already vulnerable economy deeper into crisis,” warned a recent letter from members of Congress to Secretary of State John Kerry. It added that cutting off cash transfers could “strengthen the appeal of terrorism and piracy” and “reverse the limited gains” made so far to eliminate terrorism in Somalia.
White House officials have expressed concerns for the situation but no solution has been reached. David S. Cohen, a Treasury undersecretary said last month that while cash transfers to poorer, less-regulated countries represent “real money laundering and terrorist financing risks,” the government is working to develop a secure transfer system where “legitimate customers” can be served but “terrorists and criminals are turned away.”
Legislators and officials of several humanitarian groups led by Oxfam America and African Development Solutions (ADESO) have proposed using the World Bank or the United Nations to handle some cash transfers to Somalia. The groups fear that some Somalis who can no longer rely on cash transfers from the United States will soon join al-Shabaab or other criminal groups to make ends meet. “This is going to be a survival issue for a lot of people,” said Scott Paul, a senior humanitarian policy advisor at Oxfam America. He added that “if you’re familiar with Somalia’s recent history, you know that when young men don’t have their own livelihood, the most attractive other opportunities tend to be calls to go fight in armed groups. More young, armed fighters is exactly not what Somalia needs right now.”
