Rushanara Ali

Bethnal Green and Bow MP and Chair of the Save Remittance Giving Campaign, Rushanara Ali, has welcomed the judgment handed down by the High Court today. This judgement grants an interim injunction that will safeguard remittances being sent to millions of Somalis and Africans through the Money Transfer Operator (MTO) Dahabshiil based in Rushanara Ali’s constituency. Continue reading

Bethnal Green and Bow MP, Rushanara Ali met with delegates from the Sylhet Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The delegates were on a visit to the UK to promote foreign investment in Sylhet and Bangladesh’s first ever Special Economic Zone. Continue reading

Bethnal Green and Bow MP and Chair of the Save Remittance Giving Campaign, Rushanara Ali, has today called on the UK government and Barclays Bank to take urgent action to address the immediate threat that now faces a lifeline worth billions to the developing world, as Barclays intends to close down the remittance accounts it holds with money transfer operators in a matter of days. Continue reading

Rushanara Ali MP, Shadow International Development Minister and Chair of the Save Remittance Giving Campaign, has welcomed Olympic champion Mo Farah’s latest plea to Barclays not to close the bank accounts it offers small and medium sized money transfer companies. The Save Remittance Giving Campaign’s petition, which Rushanara Ali delivered to 10 Downing Street last month, now stands at 122,661 signatories, all of whom have called on Barclays and the government to reconsider. With this number of backers, and with only days left until the bank accounts close, Mo Farah has again called on both Barclays and the UK government to reconsider the decision. Continue reading

Following Barclays Bank’s decision to terminate its banking facilities for UK money transfer agencies, Rushanara Ali MP, Shadow Minister for International Development, will today deliver a petition to Number 10 Downing Street signed by some 25,500 people calling on the UK Government, Barclays Bank and regulators to take urgent action to save money transfer businesses from going bust. Continue reading

As President Thein Sein of Burma prepares for his upcoming visit to London, Rushanara Ali MP, Shadow Minister for International Development, has called on the UK Government to exert pressure on the Burmese authorities to address the humanitarian crisis in Burma and put human rights at the heart of their reform process. Continue reading

Labour are calling for urgent action to increase the supply of affordable homes in the East End after new figures released by the NHBC show that building work started on just 14 new homes in Bethnal Green and Bow in the first three months of 2013. Continue reading

Bethnal Green and Bow MP Rushanara Ali has exposed the Conservative-led Government’s shocking record on housing and homelessness. Continue reading

Following her recent visit to Rakhine State with Refugees International, Rushanara Ali MP, Shadow Minister for International Development, spoke in a Westminster Hall debate to call for an end to the discrimination against the Rohingya community in Burma and an urgent resolution to their citizenship status. Continue reading

According to recent figures, more than 1.6 million Syrian refugees are hosted in foreign countries. The conflict in Syria is placing unprecedented strain on communities, infrastructure and services in these host countries. In Lebanon, the number of refugees has now reached half a million with thousands more Syrians arriving each week, risking destabilising the country. With no official refugee camps for the Syrian refugees, Lebanese host communities are bearing a large share of the burden in the country. Their generosity and the pressures they face have been largely ignored by the media. Rushanara therefore decided to visit Lebanon with World Vision to see for herself the plight of refugees and the impact of the continued outpouring of Syrians on Lebanese host communities. Continue reading