Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of what the primary sources of finance for Daesh are; and what steps the Government is taking to disrupt those sources.
Mr Philip Hammond
Daesh has two main sources of funding. About 40% comes from extorting communities living in territory it controls; and around 40% from selling oil. It also gets a small amount of funding from selling looted antiquities and donations from individuals in the region and around the world.
Tackling Daesh financing is a key element of our comprehensive strategy. This involves military action, enforcement of sanctions and engagement with international partners.
The RAF carried out 15% of the airstrikes in the Global Coalition’s recent offensive targeting Daesh oil facilities. Since this offensive began, the Coalition has destroyed 25% of the Daesh daily oil production capability, which equates to approximately 10% of their total income.
The UK has led efforts to create and enforce an international legal regime to cut off support for Daesh, including UN and EU sanctions against Daesh. This regime is underpinned by UN Security Council Resolutions 2178, 2199, 1267 and 2253. We are expanding existing work with regional partners to ensure implementation of these sanctions and hamper Daesh’s ability to trade outside the formal financial system, and to stop smuggling.
