KUWAIT CITY, 5 March 2005 — Kuwait has begun removing dozens of charity collection boxes run by Islamic organizations in a bid to regulate fund-raising and prevent misuse.
“We have removed about 25 boxes in the past three days. Our operation will continue over the next two weeks to remove more than 80 boxes,” Ahmad Al-Sane, the head of a government committee entrusted with the removal, said yesterday.
Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Faisal Al-Hajji said Wednesday that charity boxes were not a “civilized” means of raising funds and “could give an impression contrary to the noble goals of the charities.”
US Ambassador Richard LeBaron urged Kuwait last month to exercise more control on charity fund-raising and money transfers in a bid to drain sources of terrorism funding. In the aftermath of the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, Kuwait has taken a series of measures to regulate fund-raising by charities, including a ban on collecting cash donations.
All charity boxes were licensed by the government but the Kuwaiti Cabinet last month gave Islamic charities two weeks to remove them or the government would. “We have not faced any objection or resistance to our work. All are cooperating with the committee,” said Sane as he supervised the removal of three boxes in Salmiya near the capital.
He said the government committee would take possession of the remaining 60 boxes scattered around Kuwait after removing some 500 illegal boxes over the past two years.
