Blocking wire transfers could spark a humanitarian crisis in Somalia

Listen Story audio 4min 30sec Updated: 11:30 a.m. | Posted: 7:25 a.m.

Somali-Americans in Minnesota and across the United States are again facing problems sending money to relatives still living in east Africa.

Last month, the bank that handled the majority of cash transfers from the United States to east Africa stopped providing the service. Aid organizations say there will be a humanitarian crisis if the financial pipeline doesn't expand soon.

That worries residents of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood near downtown Minneapolis, home to thousands of Somali-Americans. It's not hard to find people who regularly send cash to family in or near Somalia.

"If I don't send any money, there's no way they can live," said 28-year-old Ayub Ali, who earns a modest living as a truck driver.

This month Ali again scraped together $700 and came to Kaah Express, a storefront money-wiring business on Cedar Avenue. Ali said he sends money to his wife and children, which they'll use for the basics including food, clothing and rent.

"She doesn't have any income except my income," he said.

During Somalia's recent civil war, Ali's family fled to Nairobi, Kenya along with many others.

According to the charity Oxfam, many of the 10 million people who remain in Somalia are deeply dependent on money sent from relatives overseas. The group says $1.3 billion in remittance payments flow in to Somalia from around the world every year. The funds account for as much as 45 percent of the country's economic activity.

Somalis in the United States may only send money if a U.S. bank is willing to facilitate the transfers. Any bank that does risks multimillion dollar fines if it runs afoul of federal antiterrorism financing laws and complying with the laws is increasingly difficult.

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Blocking wire transfers could spark a humanitarian crisis in Somalia