Does anyone knows an alternative to Western Union for sending money to mAli?
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REPORT: WESTERN UNION BLOCKS FUNDS OVER NAME "MUHAMMAD"
African-American Muslim in New York allegedly asked to state country of
birth
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/15/03) - A national Islamic civil rights and advocacy
group today called on Western Union to clarify its policy on racial and
religious profiling after receiving a report that the money transfer
service demands to know the national origin of any customer named
"Muhammad."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said a Muslim by that name
recently attempted to send $80 to relatives in Connecticut from a Western
Union site in Brooklyn, N.Y. After returning home, the African-American
customer says he received a call from Western Union's main office demanding
that, because of his name, he must provide photo identification and state
his country of birth, otherwise the funds would not be delivered. When the
customer protested that policy and requested a refund, he was told that the
funds would not be returned unless he met the company's demands.
"Western Union must clarify whether this incident truly reflects company
policy or is merely the product of individual prejudice and stereotyping.
To single out customers transferring funds within the United States based
solely on a religiously-specific name, and then to demand that they reveal
their national origin, violates basic principles of equality that all
Americans hold dear," said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper in a
letter faxed to Western Union President Michael Yerington.
A year ago, Western Union had to apologize for freezing the funds of a
Muslim family apparently based on religious and ethnic profiling. In that
incident, an African-American Muslim was informed that the money his family
sent him from Virginia was not in Western Union records. When his mother
called to see what had happened to the funds she transferred, she
discovered that the money was frozen until her son provided further
documentation of his American citizenship.
There an estimated seven million Muslims in America and some 1.2 billion
worldwide.
- END -
ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE.)
Contact Western Union to ask that the company clarify its policy on racial
and religious profiling.
CONTACT:
Mr. Michael C. Yerington
President
Western Union North America
12500 East Belford Avenue
Englewood, CO 80112
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