Council wants ‘arbitrary’ closure of Muslim bank accounts reviewed
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has urged UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to call for a review over the alleged arbitrary closure of bank accounts belonging to Muslim individuals and organisations. An open letter published Tuesday and authored by the MCB’s Secretary General Zara Mohammed asks Sunak to act over “the many law-abiding Muslim […]
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has urged UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to call for a review over the alleged arbitrary closure of bank accounts belonging to Muslim individuals and organisations.
An open letter published Tuesday and authored by the MCB’s Secretary General Zara Mohammed asks Sunak to act over “the many law-abiding Muslim individuals and Muslim-led organisations that have been gravely impacted by the arbitrary withdrawal of banking services.”
Mohammed contrasted Sunak’s recent “decisive intervention” in calling for the NatWest Group to reinstate services to former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader and far-right figurehead Nigel Farage with his silence on the “unhindered” practice of banks doing the same to Muslims and Muslim-oriented organisations.
The MCB letter claims that many high-profile Muslim individuals and charities have been targeted, but, unlike Farage, have not had the platform to protest and speak about their cases to banks, the media or the government, which is why a review is necessary.
The incident led to questions on whether the targeting of Muslims had anything to do with their political views on Israel and Palestine, or other areas where they might go against the UK political consensus.
Most recently, Anas Altikriti, the CEO and founder of The Cordoba Foundation, which is a Muslim advisory and research group, took to social media to condemn Barclays bank for arbitrarily placing his bank accounts under “review”, making him £500,000 overdrawn.
When contacted, a spokesperson for Barclays told The New Arab that while they cannot comment on any individual account, “we comply with our legal and regulatory obligations. We would only withdraw banking services from an individual or business in exceptional circumstances”. (The New Arab)