The non-profit humanitarian agency World Vision United States dealt improperly with the Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA) in 2014 with the approval of the Obama administration, a new report said, adding that government funding was sent to the approved organization over its links to terrorism.
Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, recently released a report detailing the findings of an investigation launched by his staff in February 2019 into the relationship between World Vision and ISRA.
The investigation found that World Vision was unaware that al-Qaeda’s predecessor, Maktab al-Khidmat, controlled by Osama bin Laden, had been approved by the US since 2004 after nearly million 1 million was spent.
However, the report states that ignorance is born out of incomplete testing methods.
“World Vision works to help people in need around the world, and that work is commendable,” Grassley said in a statement. “Although he did not know that Ezra was on the sanctions list or that he was listed because of his links to terrorism, he should be. Ignorance is not enough as an excuse. The transformation of World Vision into testing practices is a good first step, and I look forward to its continued progress.
The investigation was launched by July, 2018 National Review The article, in which Sam Westrop, director of the Middle East Forum’s Islamist watch, details the MEF’s findings, states that the Obama administration has “approved a દા 200,000 taxpayer grant to Israel.”
Westrop wrote that government officials specifically authorized the release of “at least 5 115,000” from the grant, even after learning that it was a designated terrorist organization.
According to the Senate report, World Vision submitted a grant application to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on January 21, 2014 to carry out its Blue Nile Recovery Program. The proposed program includes food security, sanitation equipment and health services in conflict-affected areas in Sudan’s Blue Nile region.
USAID provided a grant of 72 23,723,405 to World Vision for the program. Next month, Israel agreed to provide humanitarian services to parts of the Blue Nile region for World Vision, the report said. The two organizations also collaborated on a number of projects in 2013 and 2014.
ISIL was allowed to pursue a world vision only after discussing evangelical humanitarian non-profit discussions with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Sudan. In a routine inspection of World Vision and its partners, the IOMA reached out to the Foreign Assets Control (of FAC) compliance team to find and confirm ISRA’s approval status.
After receiving confirmation from the OAFC, the IOM rejected the rejected vision of the World Vision of Cooperation, the report said.
The legal department of World Vision was notified in September 2014 of Israel’s potential status as an approved entity and immediately withheld all payments to the organization during the investigation.
The nonprofit sent a letter to OFAFAC on November 19, 2014, seeking clarification on ISRA’s position, and requesting that, in the event that ISRA be approved, it be granted a temporary license to terminate the entity’s existing agreement.
Two months later, the Treasury responded, confirming that ISRA was valid and rejecting the request for a license to work with the organization, as it would be “inconsistent with OFC policy.”
One month later, World Vision submitted a second request for a license to deal with ISRA, to pay 000 125,000 for the services provided to them, so that it would not face legal consequences and possible expulsion from Sudan.
On May 4, 2015, the Obama administration’s State Department recommended that World Vision’s request for a license for the transaction be submitted to the OFAC. The next day, the OFFC licensed ISRA to pay $ 125,000 for the services provided, and later sent a “warning letter” to the nonprofit, making it aware that collaborating with ISRA appeared to violate global terrorism clearance rules.
The report said the investigation “found no evidence that World Vision deliberately sought to prevent US sanctions by partnering with ISRA.”
The report added, “We also found no evidence that World Vision knew that Isra had given its approval before receiving a notice from the Treasury.” “However, based on the evidence presented, we conclude that World Vision had access to appropriate public information and should have known how, but unsuccessfully, to substantiate ISRA as a Sabra Grant, to transfer US taxpayer dollars.” Consequently an organization with a vast history of supporting a terrorist organization [sic] And terrorists, including Osama bin Laden. “
The report calls World Vision’s system for investigating potential sub-grants “borderline negligence” and says the organization “ignored the investigation procedures at an early stage.”
The report states that ‘Ishrani spent weeks after being informed of the status of the IOM’s investigation of the claim and was unable to reach any conclusion, depending on which‘ can only be described as defective logic, ’the report said.
The report accused World Vision of trying to reduce the blame, noting that the IOM “could quickly investigate ISRA and determine its status as an approved entity.”
It states, ‘If World Vision I.O.M. If the taxpayer uses the same in-depth and similar methods designated by the taxpayer, he would not be dealing with a well-known organization to fund terrorist organizations. ‘
While World Vision has introduced additional screening methods, the Finance Committee staff has reservations about its ability to avoid such situations in the future, the report said.
“World Vision has a duty to ensure that funds acquired from the U.S. government or donated by Americans do not support terrorist activity,” he says. “World Vision, in particular, seeks to shift the blame on the federal government for its own inability to properly inspect subcontractors.” Restoring public confidence requires a stronger and more basic sound system of screening and vetting that contributions to World Vision are not funded by illegal organizations. “
“Moreover, although we have no reason to suspect, according to World Vision, that their full funding was used by ISRA for humanitarian purposes, the money inevitably supports their terrorist activities,” he concludes.
World Vision said in a statement that it “Takes responsibility for our compliance seriously and Sen. Grasley and the committee share the motive for good governance of the staff.”
“We applaud the acknowledgment in the report to the committee’s staff chairman that ‘World Vision did not know that ISRA had given its approval before receiving notice from the Treasury.’” He added. “Terrorism as an organization goes against everything as a world vision and we condemn any act of terrorism or support for such activities.”
