The Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has asked some British aid charities to supply details of all payments made in Gaza since 31 December 2020.
Bond and the Muslim Charities Forum told Civil Society News that “a number of charities” working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) received a letter from the financial sanctions regulator over their operations there.
The letter, seen by Civil Society News, “is intended to support compliance with the legislative framework, without unnecessarily impeding legitimate humanitarian activities overseas,” it said.
The recipients, which include some Muslim charities, have until 28 April to respond or risk facing sanctions.
Bond said that “this is a new development for the sector and organisations are taking legal advice to ensure they properly fulfil their responsibilities”.
Comply or risk facing sanctions
OFSI formally asked charities to confirm whether they operate in Gaza and “provide details of any payments such as local authority charges, taxes, utilities, and services including water supply, waste services, telephone or broadband payments that you have made in the area since 31 December 2020”.
Charities must also include the name of the organisations or people who received the payments, a summary of why the payments were made and any relevant supporting documents such as receipts or invoices.
The letter warned charities that they might face sanctions under counter-terrorism regulations if they fail to send the requested information by 28 April.
It said that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK in its entirety and that current legislation prohibits a person “from making available funds to or for the benefit of an organisation designated under the 2019 Regulations” unless permitted.
“This can include any payments to a designated organisation or entities owned or controlled by it, or to entities independent of that organisation but where payments will be for its benefit,” it said.
“As a charity with operations in the OPT, potentially in Gaza, it is your responsibility to ensure you are compliant with financial sanctions obligations.”
‘Charities shouldn’t be obstructed’
In an online statement, Human Aid & Advocacy said that the correspondence “is nothing more than an attempt to disrupt legitimate aid work, and thereby maximise the suffering of the Palestinian people”.
Chair Nur Choudhury said: “It is startling that when the UK government seeks to expand a £7-bn trade relationship with Israel – a state that has been roundly condemned for maintaining apartheid – it is also turning on its own citizens and restricting the delivery of aid to Palestinian survivors.
“Charities and volunteers that are helping to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians living under apartheid deserve every support from UK authorities. They should not be obstructed nor threatened with prosecution. We call on the OFSI to reverse its decision and to stop the intimidation of Muslim charities especially during the month of Ramadan.”
‘Threat of offence seems unnecessarily heavy-handed’
Tom Keatinge, a director at the Royal United Services Institute charity, questioned why OFSI requested the information and how this would help support compliance.
“I’m wondering if someone in OFSI has recently woken up to the fact that, given the control Hamas has of Gaza, there is likely to be some sort of financial connection between the provision of utilities and municipal services and Hamas – with the associated implications,” he told the Middle East Eye.
“The fact that the letter includes the threat of an offence seems unnecessarily heavy-handed.”
The Treasury did not wish to comment on the letter and referred to the government’s bespoke guidance for the charity sector.
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