UK banking services withdrawn from four in 10 Muslim charities
More than four in 10 British Muslim charities have had their banking services withdrawn, a new report from the Muslim Charities Forum (MCF) has revealed.
The report, released earlier this week, found that Muslim charities "are experiencing disproportionate financial exclusion, often linked to counter-terrorism and risk frameworks".
It added that 68 percent of Muslim charities surveyed reported difficulties opening bank accounts, while 42 percent have experienced a "complete withdrawal of banking services".
Four in 10 also reported challenges with transferring funds that delayed their ability to make payments.
One charity operating a hospital was unable to pay doctors and nurses for two months.
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Another, operating in the Middle East, said delays in sending funds meant "local vendors would come to our field offices demanding payment at gunpoint, putting the lives of our workers at risk".
Muslims donate more than any other faith group in Britain, the report found.
But Muslim charities disproportionately fall victim to so-called "de-risking" and "de-banking", having funds frozen or banking services closed.
'Structural Islamophobia'
"For over two decades, Muslim-led charities have struggled with de-risking," Abdulsami Arjuman, MCF's policy and advocacy lead, told Middle East Eye.
"Yet despite the critical nature of his issue, it has not received the attention it deserves."
He added: "We urgently need fairer and more transparent banking practices, stronger protections for charities and their resources, and greater accountability from financial institutions to ensure charities are not unfairly penalised."
Charities are forced to defend themselves without being told why their transactions were blocked or accounts closed.
The report says that "structural Islamophobia" leads to Muslim charities being unfairly targeted by banks without any evidence of wrongdoing, and recommends that bank staff undergo anti-racism training.
Over the past decade there have been many reported cases of Muslim-led charities being targeted.
In 2019 Middle East Eye revealed that the World Uyghur Congress, which raises awareness about the terrible plight of Chinese Muslims, was having bank transfers blocked after being blacklisted on the basis of Chinese disinformation that it was a terror group.
In another case the Finsbury Park Mosque in London was stripped of its account after being falsely listed as a terrorist organisation.
The new report comes after prominent politician Nigel Farage had his bank accounts closed without explanation in June 2023, the most widely publicised case.
Farage said at the time that without a bank account, "I won’t be able to exist or function".
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