(MintPress)—Over a hundred Somali Americans gathered outside a Wells Fargo bank in Minneapolis, MN last Friday, January 13th to take action against US banks that have closed money transfer services to Somalia because of complex federal regulations. A small group of the protesters took turns closing their Wells Fargo accounts as part of Somali Family Move Your Money Day.
Somali Americans have been protesting across Minnesota, home to the largest US Somali population, since the end of December when the last bank allowing transfers to Somalia through money service businesses (MSB), otherwise called hawalas, closed its services.
Although Wells Fargo ended its remittance services several years ago, some Somali Americans hope increased pressure will encourage the bank to lead others in reopening transfer services that the Somali community so desperately desires.
Somali Americans send an estimated $100-$150 million annually to friends and relatives in Somalia. However, US banks in Minnesota, Ohio, Washington, and other states with large Somali populations, have stopped providing transfer services in fear of the risk associated with strict anti-terrorism laws put into place after 9/11.
Sunrise Community Banks was the last bank to close its services on December 30, 2011. Without a bank to act as an intermediary, 15 Minnesota hawalas were essentially shut down, leaving Somali Americans unable to send money back to loved ones suffering from war and famine halfway around the world.
Sunrise Community Banks announced it would be ending its services shortly after two Somali Minnesotan women were convicted in October 2011 of transferring funds to Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda branch that controls much of southern Somalia. Although Sunrise Community Banks was not connected to the case, the situation heightened concerns about the possible misuse of hawalas in funding terrorism and forced banks to reexamine the legal risks associated with providing money transfer services.
The timing of the banks’ decision comes at a time of humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa. Somalia is currently facing its worst drought in over 60 years, which has resulted in widespread famine and a cholera epidemic. International aid organizations including Oxfam America and the American Refugee Committee have both expressed concerns over the disastrous impact the banks’ decisions will have on the ground in Somalia.
Without remittances from relatives in the United States, many Somalis will not be able to afford rent, medical bills, and food, and may even face death as a result. “Prohibiting us to send money back home is basically another form of saying that we should let our family die,” says Afaf Saleh, student at St. Catherine University in Minnesota, whose family sends $200 to Somalia each month. Saleh says her family in Somalia survives on the money they send since many of her relatives cannot work due to physical ailments and the harsh unstable conditions in the region.
While some members of the Somali community work with hawalas through the Somali American Money Services Association (SAMSA) to organize protests and encourage banks to reopen their services, others are pairing together with the Law Offices of Bruce Goldstein in Minneapolis, MN to address the federal issues that led to the bank service closures in the first place.
Somali Minnesotans have been speaking with Goldstein since mid-December, but this month individuals formed the Somali-American Humanitarian Relief Association (SAHRA), which will encompass an array of individual claims if a court case should ensue. SAHRA’s goals are to research and analyze the laws associated with wiring services, engage in discussion with elected and appointed officials, and prepare a potential legal attack against federal rules and regulations if necessary.
The two main federal laws pertaining to MSBs are the Patriot Act and the Bank Secrecy Act. Although these acts do not prohibit banks from supporting hawalas, they do require that banks take exhaustive measures to meet strict regulations, and there are harsh penalties for noncompliance. SAHRA hopes to explore which provisions are objectionable to banks and determine whether these provisions are in violation of the Constitution.
According to a statement by Sunrise Community Banks, the laws and regulations associated with money transfers carry very strict-penalties, but the bank is working hard to find a solution and reopen the services. Some hawalas have reopened services using banks in Canada, and there is believed to be a bank in Atlanta, GA that has agreed to act as an intermediary as well.
However, Goldstein speculates that at some point this bank will pull the plug as well when it realizes the high risk rules associated with this type of service. According to Goldstein, the government needs to balance its very legitimate goal to combat terrorism both locally and abroad with establishing bank regulations that meet the need for US citizens to send aid to loved ones in Somalia or elsewhere during a time of crisis.
The longer Somali Americans are restricted from wiring aid to Somalia, the greater impact it will have on the lives lost due to humanitarian crisis. Already, over 30,000 children have died as a direct result of the famine. Goldstein believes that “America is a very generous and thoughtful country. When there is an earthquake in Japan we reach out there. When there is a tsunami in Thailand we reach out there….there is a double whammy going on right now in Somalia…and it is part of our American culture to reach out to those in need.”
To get involved, Goldstein suggests that Americans become more aware of the problem, get in touch with their elected officials, and support the SAHRA legal defense fund.
Source: Mint Press