The humanitarian aid loophole: German parliamentary move seeks to halt funding for Muslim Brotherhood-linked branches
A new initiative is targeting the funding of structures linked to the Muslim Brotherhood in Germany, particularly those operating under the banner of humanitarian work, a move that could make it more difficult for such organisations to secure public funding in the future.
According to a parliamentary information request submitted a few days ago by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Germany’s Federal Court of Auditors criticised the Foreign Ministry’s funding of Islamic Relief Deutschland in two recent audit reports, particularly over the ministry’s alleged failure to heed recommendations from the security authorities on the matter.
The information request cites the Federal Court of Auditors’ first audit report, which stated that the Foreign Ministry had been unable to justify its decision to fund Islamic Relief projects. The ministry reportedly acknowledged that it was unable to clearly explain the basis on which it had concluded that Islamic Relief had a good reputation as a non-governmental organisation.
The request also states that “despite warnings issued by the security authorities, the funding decision was taken,” adding that “intelligence information concerning links between the international Islamic Relief network and the Muslim Brotherhood, described in the text as a terrorist organisation, had been available for several years.”
It further argues that “the government has failed, over the past period, to answer the fundamental questions surrounding the internal decision-making process related to the funding of this organisation. There is therefore an urgent parliamentary interest in clarifying the procedures and circumstances surrounding the decision.”
Among other requests, the parliamentary inquiry calls on the federal government to identify the offices and departments within the Foreign Ministry that participated in each funding decision involving Islamic Relief, as well as the specific information and recommendations provided by Germany’s foreign intelligence service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution — the domestic intelligence agency — and foreign partner agencies concerning Islamic Relief Deutschland or the Islamic Relief network as a whole.
According to observers, the parliamentary initiative increases pressure on German government institutions and could push them to strengthen the scrutiny and assessment of funding applications submitted by organisations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood when seeking German public funds in the future.
Funding for Islamic Relief
The sums provided by successive German governments to support Islamic Relief, described in the text as being linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, have been substantial, prompting numerous investigations and widespread criticism.
Between 2013 and 2016 alone, approximately €8.5 million was transferred by the German Foreign Ministry to Islamic Relief accounts, followed by additional funding, despite Berlin’s acknowledgement of links between the organisation and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Islamic Relief Worldwide has been associated with “circles close to the Muslim Brotherhood” since the publication in 2009 of a report by the Baden-Württemberg Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the state’s domestic intelligence agency.
Following an inquiry by former Green Party MP Volker Beck, the federal government informed Parliament in January 2017 that close links existed between Islamic Relief Deutschland (IRD) and the German Muslim Community, described as the Muslim Brotherhood’s branch in Germany.
Nevertheless, the German Foreign Ministry continued at the time to provide funding for projects managed by Islamic Relief, according to the German newspaper Die Welt.
This situation reportedly began to change only after the Free Democratic Party (FDP) submitted a minor parliamentary inquiry in April 2019.
According to the German government’s response to that inquiry, Islamic Relief has “significant personal links with the Muslim Brotherhood or with organisations close to it.”
