Dutch Banks, Financial Institutions Structurally Discriminate against Muslims
This is according to the national coordinator against discrimination and racism Rabin Baldewsingh on Friday.
This is mainly the result of the law that is intended to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism, the so-called Wwft.
Baldewsingh told the Dutch daily Trouw on Thursday that he receives extra signals from Muslims who were discriminated against, especially during Ramadan due to obligatory almsgiving in Islam and collection of charity money to help the less fortunate. During this month, the money is often raised in mosques and during iftars, a dinner to mark the breaking of the daily fast, to donate as zakat – a form of almsgiving and a pillar of Islam.
"Then they are bombarded by compliance departments of banks who designated them as suspects of money laundering or terrorism," Baldewsingh said. "Then they must demonstrate how they got that money before the transaction is processed."
He called for an investigation into this.
One of the instances the coordinator cited in Trouw concerns a business person whose surname is popular in Pakistan and coincides with one of al-Qaida's affiliates. On the funding application for a new restaurant, he had to respond to further inquiries, he said.
"As far as I am concerned, the Ministry of Finance must take responsibility. They impose this law on financial institutions, but it is used in an improper way," he said, urging the government to see how big the problem is and talk to financial institutions.
The "reporting point for victims of the profiling of banks," set up last year by the Muslim Rights Watch Netherlands foundation, received 105 reports before the launch. The foundation itself faced discrimination by receiving a negative recommendation from Regiobank, where it wanted to open an account, claiming that "religious organizations do not fit the target group of the bank."
The Wwft obliges banks to report "unusual" transactions, under a penalty of high fines. According to the Dutch Banking Association (NVB), discrimination is a no-go in the law's implementation. "Ethnic, religious or other backgrounds of customers are not grounds for increased customer scrutiny," the spokesperson told Trouw.
Baldewsingh is "seriously concerned" about the effects of institutional racism and discrimination affecting Dutch Muslim communities.
He cited research from the Social and Cultural Planning Office, which reported "chronic discrimination" experienced by Muslims in 2020. According to the research, 55% of Muslims experience discrimination regularly, compared to 27% of the general population. Baldewsingh emphasized that if we include those who have doubts about whether they are facing discrimination, the number rises to 69%.
Baldewsingh highlighted that 67% of religious discrimination reports made to the police in 2021 were linked to Muslims. Furthermore, the figure was 65% for municipal provisions against discrimination.
"I'm shocked by these numbers," Baldewsingh said. "But I encounter a lot of indifference. Muslim discrimination is not punished. It follows that people drop out. Especially young Muslims. That must not happen, they are our future."
Source: dailysabah.com
