24th December 2008
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) is deeply concerned by closure of account notices served upon a number of Muslim charities some of whom are our affiliates. – the latest of these being Ummah Welfare Trust who have been given 30 days by the Barclays Bank to close their account.
‘We are astonished and angered by these developments because in every reported instance no explicit reasons are given by the banks,’ said Dr Daud Abdullah Deputy Secretary General. ‘Clearly those worst affected would not be the officials who administer the charities but the tens of thousands of impoverished people who rely on their humanitarian aid and support’, he added.
Where there is no breach of British law or the statutory regulations governing their charity status the MCB sees no justification for these summary closures and denial of services. In the event of breaches, these should be set these forth in writing. ‘We have already communicated our concerns to the highest level of government, the Charity Commission and the banks concerned and despite having received assurances that the matter is receiving urgent attention with a view to equitable resolution, we find that the actions against Muslim charities are being escalated.’, said Dr Abdullah.
Dr Daud Abdullah also said, “Given the growing anxiety caused by the actions of the banks the MCB urges the Prime Minister to expedite his intervention to ensure that all charities are afforded the same facilities and treatment as other British institutions without prejudice or favour and that no pressure from any foreign government or agency is allowed to cause detriment to any Muslim charity unless there is evidence of wrong doing. We also call upon the Banks concerned once again to carefully re-consider their manifestly unjust decisions so that they can regain the confidence of Muslim communities in their financial probity and ethics.”
[END]
For further information please contact the MCB:
The Muslim Council of Britain,
PO Box 57330,
London,
E1 2WJ
Tel: 0845 26 26 786
Fax: 0207 247 7079
media@mcb.org.uk
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) is deeply concerned by closure of account notices served upon a number of Muslim charities some of whom are our affiliates. – the latest of these being Ummah Welfare Trust who have been given 30 days by the Barclays Bank to close their account.
‘We are astonished and angered by these developments because in every reported instance no explicit reasons are given by the banks,’ said Dr Daud Abdullah Deputy Secretary General. ‘Clearly those worst affected would not be the officials who administer the charities but the tens of thousands of impoverished people who rely on their humanitarian aid and support’, he added.
Where there is no breach of British law or the statutory regulations governing their charity status the MCB sees no justification for these summary closures and denial of services. In the event of breaches, these should be set these forth in writing. ‘We have already communicated our concerns to the highest level of government, the Charity Commission and the banks concerned and despite having received assurances that the matter is receiving urgent attention with a view to equitable resolution, we find that the actions against Muslim charities are being escalated.’, said Dr Abdullah.
Dr Daud Abdullah also said, “Given the growing anxiety caused by the actions of the banks the MCB urges the Prime Minister to expedite his intervention to ensure that all charities are afforded the same facilities and treatment as other British institutions without prejudice or favour and that no pressure from any foreign government or agency is allowed to cause detriment to any Muslim charity unless there is evidence of wrong doing. We also call upon the Banks concerned once again to carefully re-consider their manifestly unjust decisions so that they can regain the confidence of Muslim communities in their financial probity and ethics.”
[END]
For further information please contact the MCB:
The Muslim Council of Britain,
PO Box 57330,
London,
E1 2WJ
Tel: 0845 26 26 786
Fax: 0207 247 7079
media@mcb.org.uk
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