Barclays Bank to cut ties with Dahabshiil
Barclays Bank announced it would no longer be doing business with Dahabshiil, the Somali money Transfer Company based in Dubai, UAE.
Operating as the largest money transfer service under the Somali Money Service Association (SOMSA), Dahabshiil serves as a lifeline for Somalis in the country and the Diaspora. Barclays addressed Dahabshiil by stating that the move was “a commercial decision due to the risks of the sector in which [they] operate.”
In response SOMSA stated,
“The key issue is the damage to flows of cash to the vulnerable Somali people, who depend on remittances for their livelihood; and the likely threat of this action to economic and political stability in fragile parts of the Somali region.”
In 2011, the Somali Diaspora in the United States faced similar problems when banks in the state of Minnesota closed transfer services to Somalia.
