Sir Stephen Bubb, head of the charity chief executives body Acevo, has said there is a perception that the Charity Commission is disproportionately targeting Muslim charities.
In a blog post published yesterday, Bubb said he had a meeting with the chief executives of Islamic Relief, Muslim Aid and the head of the Muslim Charities Forum, who had told him that it appeared that regulator was “targeting Muslim charities in a disproportionate way”.
The regulator rejected the claim of any bias in its regulatory work and said it was not possible for it to “remain silent about the risks and problems charities face”.
Bubb said the leaders had come to talk about their fear that recent actions by the commission were damaging the reputation of Muslim charities. He said it was the regulator’s role to examine and deal with complaints.
“In the turbulent world we live in, we are aware of terrorist threats from many parts of the globe,” he said. “But if that raises perceptions of a bias then that is in itself a problem. A perception is neither true nor false – it’s a perception – but damage can be done to charitable giving through bad perceptions.”
Bubb said it was worrying that the regulator had publicly announced a statutory inquiry into Muslim Aid. The regulator revealed that it was investigating the charity when it announced that it would in future name all charities that become the subject of statutory inquiries.
The charity said at the time that the inquiry was launched in November after Muslim Aid had itself notified the commission of “non-compliance with some operational aspects in two field offices”.
Bubb said that announcing the inquiry into Muslim Aid “had a devastating effect on its potential for fundraising now”. “Before even the results of the inquiry are known, it is now under a cloud of suspicion,” he said. He said the move had ramifications for the charity’s day-to-day business in making charitable payments around the world.
“How ironic that against the background of the most terrible suffering of the civilian population in Syria, it has become so difficult for Muslim charities to provide humanitarian aid,” Bubb wrote.
Angry protesters had to be escorted from a planning meeting by security staff as it descended into chaos after plans for a mosque were approved. Councillors sitting on the planning committee had to leave the room while campaigners against the application were led out.
The government and the police have been urged to tackle the swathe of harassment suffered by Muslims on social media.
A new study has found the true extent to which veiled women bear the brunt of anti-Muslim abuse in the UK. Led by the University of Leicester it offers a unique insight into the experiences of veiled Muslim women as victims of Islamophobia, and the impact of this victimisation upon their families and wider Muslim communities.
The Government should press on with banning the veil in Britain after a French law doing the same was