As we noted earlier this week, in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, President Bush issued Executive Order 13224 (September 21, 2001), providing, among other things, that every United States person is prohibited from making or receiving any contributions of funds, goods, or services to benefit of those persons listed on the Annex to the order [this is a brochure and it may not be current, but it will provide you with some sense of the difficulty facing charities]. This order poses issues for relief organizations working in countries with large Muslim populations such as Indonesia, particularly if these organizations are partnering with local NGOs.
In its January 11, 2005 edition, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Tamil Tigers (a Hindu group) is on the list of terrorist on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations....
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We wondered in our earlier post whether the U.S. government might relax its standards in view of the need to quickly get relief to the people needing aid. The answer: Apparently not. The Wall Street Journal's article reports that the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence "is closely watching tsunami-relief organizations." Sri Lanka expats are coordinating relief efforts for portions of Sri Lanks under control of the Tamil Tigers through Tamils Rehabilitation Organization, a group with offices in 14 countries, according to the Wall Street Journal. One of the countries is the United States. The group claims that is independent of the Tamil Tigers, but could run into trouble with the U.S. government if money or materials find their way into the hands of the Tamil Tigers. This poses a difficult problem for this organization, given the fact that the Tamil Tigers control territory where the aid is being directed. One person affiliated with the organization is quoted by the Journal as saying , "We simply don't have time to debate at this time. There are too many lives at stake."
Long before the South Asia earthquake-tsunamis, U.S. charities had complained that the Treasury Department's restrictions do not provide enough guidance on the rules of the game. In a related area, the Bush Administration established the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in order to eliminate red tape and bureaucratic reluctance to work with religious organizations providing social services not tied to participation in the religious aspects of their organizations. It is about time that President Bush streamline the rules applying to charities and terrorism funding so legitimate organizations have the certainty that comes with clearly-defined rules. While the Treasury has issued best practices, those are not binding, and may not be appropriate in the context of disaster relief designed to save lives at immediate risk.
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