Somalia Pleads with US Over Wire Block

Somalia is pleading with the US government to reverse their decision to block money transfers from the Minnesota Somali community to their home country. 

Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the United States.  Most of those Somali families send money home to their relatives; without that money, Somalia would have a complete economic collapse.  The Minnesota Bankers Association decided to shut down the Somali money wiring agencies, known as hawalas, due to evidence that two Somali women in Rochester wired money to al-Shabab, identified as a terrorist organization. 

Money transfers to Kenya and Ethiopia, countries where other Somali refugees live in large populations, have also been affected by this decision to block money transfers.

All accounts with those money service businesses will close on December 30th if Sunrise Community Banks--the banking system that handles the bulk of money transfers from Minnesota to Somalia--does not receive legal and regulatory relief.  In the meantime, Minnesota politicians Senator Al Franken and Representative Keith Ellison are looking for solutions.

Do They Know It's Christmas?

It's not Christmas yet, but regardless, pretty soon Somalis in Minnesota will be unable to send money back home to family in Somalia.  Due to multiple pending trials involving Somalis wiring money to supposed terrorist organizations, Minnesota is shutting down all of its Somali money-transfer companies, or hawalas, by Friday December 15th.

There is no formal banking system in Somalia; people depend on money-wiring shops to receive funds from outside of the country.

Meanwhile, Somalia--as well as Ethiopia and Kenya--is having the worst famine and drought they have seen in decades.