Millions of pounds raised by British charities to help Syrian refugees are œundoubtedly” funneled to foreign-backed terrorist groups, a charities watchdog says.\n<\/p>\n
British charities™ regulator Charity Commission said the crisis in Syria means they cannot track the money they are donating for Syrian refugees.\n<\/p>\n
“A lot of money is raised that goes to Syria, some of it undoubtedly goes to extremist groups,” chairman William Shawcross told The Daily Telegraph<\/i>.\n<\/p>\n
This comes as the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which is an umbrella group for the 14 biggest charities in Britain, including the British Red Cross, said while their œSyria Crisis Appeal” has raised more than £20 million, the destination of the money cannot be verified.\n<\/p>\n
œIt is perfectly feasible for charities to be established as a sort of cover. We have not seen clear evidence of that yet,” Charity Commission board member Peter Clarke also told the paper.\n<\/p>\n
œIt is one of these ‘fog of war™ issues where stuff can be diverted. You can think of a host of different ways in which people giving money with the best possible intentions could find that it has been misappropriated,” added Clarke, who is a former head of the Metropolitan police™s anti-terrorism.\n<\/p>\n
Amid deep concerns about the destination of the money raised for refugees, the commission has recently issued guidelines to charities to ensure less money is directed toward terrorists.\n<\/p>\n
AMR\/HE<\/p>\n