Counterterrorism laws intensify Somali food crisis, experts say
Counterterrorism laws intensify Somali food crisis, experts say
Thomson Reuters Foundation, 16 Jul 2014
URL: http://goo.gl/ONu4m8
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Counterterrorism laws restricting the flow of cash to Somalia are severely harming efforts to prevent a famine similar to the 2011 catastrophe which killed 260,000 people, experts have said.
Somalis living abroad have in the past sent home around $1.3 billion a year in remittances, which play a vital role in providing relatives with food and medicine..
Virtually all major US banks have stopped offering remittance services to Somalis in the United States because of counterterrorism legislation aimed at cutting off the flow of funds to groups like the Islamist militant al Shabaab. Other western banks have come under pressure to follow suit.
Somalis living abroad have in the past sent home around $1.3 billion a year in remittances, which play a vital role in providing relatives with food and medicine..
Virtually all major US banks have stopped offering remittance services to Somalis in the United States because of counterterrorism legislation aimed at cutting off the flow of funds to groups like the Islamist militant al Shabaab. Other western banks have come under pressure to follow suit.