Hiiraan Online
Thursday, February 19, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS (HOL) ---- The deadline for the US-based Somali remittance companies to end their services expires on Thursday, February 19, 2015, with all companies convened an assembly discussing about the US bank’s decision to terminate the service.
California Merchant bank that handles majority of the money sent from the US to Somalia announced it stopped working with the Somali companies on January 6. The troubled companies formed an alliance aiming to address the issue with the US government.
Saeed Maalin, the coordinator for the new umbrella told HOL that they can not send money without the cooperation of the banks.
Amid crackdown targeting companies suspected of financing terrorism and money laundering, the US government has shut down several hawala companies worldwide.
The remittances’ closure may have a devastating humanitarian impact on Somalia as large parts of the country’s population in the horn of African nation are dependent on money from relatives and families living abroad.