SF/EC-047-2001
PRESS RELEASE MONDAY,
12th NOVEMBER 2001
COULD SENDING MONEY TO A MOTHER OR ORPHANED CHILD BE A CRIME?
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HAWALEH SYSTEM
In this times of collective hysteria, it looks that everything that
seems
unfamiliar and is remotely tied to Muslims is being questioned.
This is
certainly the case with the Hawalah system of sending money to other
countries. Suddenly, the media and governments, including
police forces are
interested in it, and have even arrested some people for
allegedly sending money to their countries of origin. For
instance, in
Norway, members of the Somaliland communtiy have been questioned,
and some
arrested, on suspicions of sending money to Somaliland. More
worryingly,
the Offices of a Somaliland Hawala firm have been raided and, a
member of
staff detained, who afterwards was released.
What is the Hawaleh System?
Hawalah means 'transfer' and it is a system of sending money that
came into
existant
as a result of the lack of banking systems in poor countries, such
as
Somaliland, or countries where the banking system is
government-owned and
unreliable, because of massive corruption - the bit of money you
sent to
your old aging mother never makes its way to its rightful
destination. The
answer to these problems was the hawaleh system. It started at
first in the
1980s when
Somali immigrants in the Gulf countries, such as Saudi Arabia,
started
sending money to their relatives in Somaliland; however,
instead of using the corrupt banking system of the Barre
dictatorship, they
would hand the money to a merchant in Saudi Arabia, who would then
buy some
goods and ship them to Somaliland; and once in Somaliland, the
merchant would sell
his goods and then reimburse the migrant's family at a better rate
than the
official government bank rate, which, of course, was ridiculously
out of
step
with the liberal and free market systems of the world. Thus, a new
system
of sending money was born.
After the war with the Barre regime in the North, and later in the
South,
and eventually after the collapse of the Barre regime and the
breakup of
Somalia into two countries, Somalia and Somaliland, there was no
other way
one could send money to one's relatives except through the hawaleh
system.
As the need arose, the system became more efficient and instead of
waiting
for months to be reimbursed by the merchant, new hawaleh companies
whose
business depended only on a small commission arose; thus one could
send
money back home which then would be received in two days's time, at
the
most, through a hawaleh branch in a particular city.
Thus, the hawaleh system which began as informal system became more
efficient and more trustworthy in sending money to those
destinations where
the official banks either not existed or were unreliable.
The whole hawaleh system relies on trust and brand-name
maintenance. An
untrusty hawaleh company will not last a month as news about it is
spread
by word of mouth, whereas a good one enjoys good reputation and a
large
turnout.
How does it help?
To understand how it helps poor people and poor countries, let us
take some
concrete examples, all taken from Somaliland- Somaliland reclaimed
its
sovereignity from Somalia in 1991, but so far is without official
international
recognition; and although it has an official bank, because of the
lack of
international recognition, its bank has no relations with other
banks in
the world. Furthermore, Somaliland, which was completely
destroyed by the
armies of Barre of Somalia, is a destitute country, but a peaceful
one,
with a stable government and functioning parliamentary system.
It happens that thousands of Somalilanders are spread
throughout the
developed world, and through the Gulf countries of Arabia; these
Somalilanders wire, through the hawaleh system, millions of dollars
each
year to their families in Somaliland. For example, Mohamed,
originally from
Somaliland, works as a factory hand in a factory full of immigrants
in
Sweden--- it could be in any of the developed countries or the oil
states of
Arabia.
Mohamed's mother is aged; his father died fighting the fascist Barre
regime
in the 1980s, and his brothers and sisters, who had not been in
schools as a
result of the war, are unemployed. Worse, the family's home in the
town has been destroyed by Barre's jet fighters and tanks in 1989;
so
when the family members returned recently from the refugee camps in
Ethiopia to Somaliland, they were practically homeless and camped in
the
ruins of their former home.
Mohamed gets desperate calls for help from his family and relatives,
on a
daily basis. Thus, Mohamed's only recourse is to
work two jobs at two different factories, and forgets about
sufficient sleep and leisure activities. The little that
remains after Mohamed pays rent and other essentials, he then takes
to his local Hawalah representative to send it to his Family.
The representative then calls Mohamed's hometown so his family can
receive the money. And, if Mohamed had saved much,
Mohamed's family may even start a business or rebuild their old home.
The younger brothers and sisters may now get back to school, and
hope shines again for Mohamed's family.
This is a typical case of the hawaleh system benefitting just
one family.
Now just multiply that by the thousands, and you will see the
picture of a
whole country slowly returning to normalcy and reconstruction, all
without
massive aid from the governments of the West or aid agencies. This
is the
picture of how Somaliland is being rebuilt right now-one family, and
one
home at a time, through the efforts of its daughters and sons who
are
toiling and sweating so that they could give hope to their families.
Does the money go to fundamentalists or fuel further war?
Every situation and every country calls for a
different answer-there is no
such a global prescription unless, we want to be extremely
simplistic. In
the case of Somaliland, there are no Muslim fundamentalists in
power; in
fact, Somaliland's democratic system, a combination of traditional
and
western systems has been hailed as a model that Africa could benefit
from (See
Gérard Prunier, Le Monde Diplomatique, Octobre 1997, p. 8).
Additionally,
there is no war in Somaliland and no fighting factions; in fact,
Somaliland
has been recently described as probably the safest country in all of
Africa
(See Afafe Ghechoua, Jeune Afrique L'intelligent, "Somaliland:
Et pourtant,
il fonctione," number 2114, July, 2001, p. 28-31.)
What would happen if it is outlawed?
If all the migrant workers with origins in poor countries are
forbidden to
send any of the money they earn, there is no doubt that the life of
millions
in the poorest countries would take a turn for the worse due to
increased
poverty and instability. And as a result of that, there is no doubt
the
whole world would stand to lose, since increase poverty and
instability
would make all humans poorer, as the global human environment is
degraded,
as a result of increased poverty.
It is important to note that the migrant workers who send money back
to
their countries of
origin benefit also the host country in many ways. First, it
must be
remembered that migrant workers, and refugees usually work in jobs
that
nationals of the host country are unwilling to work in; usually
these are
primary industries which form the bedrock of the economy.
Secondly, migrant
workers and refugees spend some of the money in the host country and
thus
contribute to the economic advancement of the host country.
Thirdly, as
active workers, migrants and refugees, help sustain the system of
taxation
and pensions that keeps the welfare of nationals, who, in
Western countries, are getting older in comparison to immigrants.
Fourthly,
if migrant workers and refugees were stopped from sending money back
home,
they would see little incentive to work and sweat in the factories
as hard
as they do now and economic growth in the host country
would slow down. Fifthly and lastly, if the hawaleh system was
stopped,
because most of the
beneficiaries happen to be Muslims, it would be unjust, and inhuman,
and
would make a mockery of the ideals of democratic liberalism and
human
rights.
We, The Somaliland Forum, an international organization with the
sole aim of promoting democracy and the benefits of civil
stability in Somaliland through small-scale project developments for
schools and hospitals in Somaliland, urge public authorities in
developed countries to
use good judgement in these times when it comes to economic copying
mechanisms such as the hawaleh system that benefits the poorest of
the poor
and enrich us all in the end, as humans.
Somaliland Forum
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SLF Background: The Somaliland Forum (SLF) is an international
organization
that brings together Somalilanders from all parts of the world
mainly,
through the medium of the Internet. The primary objective of the
Forum is to
work with the Somaliland communities around the world in order
to provide some lasting solutions to the needs of the Republic of
Somaliland
and its people. For more information, Please visit forum's web site
at:
http://www.somalilandforum.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FOLLOWING SPOKESPERSONS FOR
THE
FORUM:
NORTH AMERICA:
Farah Ahmed Hersi - Toronto, Canada
Tel: (416) 630-3728
E-mail: chair@somalilandforum.com
EUROPE:
Dahir Abdi Jama - London, U.K.
Mobile (cell): (44) 07960 173 184
Email: Dahir@dahir.freeserve.co.uk
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