Pakistan may enter FATF's 'grey list' again; Here's why
What's the story
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a United Nations-proscribed global terrorist organization, publicly collected funds for jihad in Peshawar, Pakistan, and other cities during Eid-ul-Fitr, the European Times reported, per ANI.
The operations by the JeM are considered a major violation by Pakistan of a key redline set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in removing the country from the "grey list" last year.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Last year, the FATF removed Pakistan from its "increased monitoring" list, often known as the "grey list."
Since June 2018, Pakistan had been on the FATF grey list for failing to prevent money laundering, which aids terrorist financing.
The country has also been repeatedly chastised for harboring terrorists and assisting terrorists, especially by India and the United States (US).
Details
Residences flagged JeM 'jihad' fundraising: Report
Members of the JeM were purportedly seeking donations for carrying out jihad in Kashmir and Palestine in Bagh-e-Naran, a suburb on the outskirts of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in April, locals told European Times.
Referring to several Twitter posts by users from Pakistan, the outlet claimed extremist groups were also fundraising in other areas as well, and that such operations are common in Karachi.
Information
Fundraising allegedly happening on regular basis in Karachi
Reportedly, fundraising activities by terrorist groups during Eid are a common practice. Although there has been a check, Pakistan has been accused of not completely stopping such activities. Terrorist organizations have once again started using devious methods to raise funds, per the report.
Redline
Laxities prevented FATF from removing Pakistan from grey list
FATF refused to remove Pakistan from the grey list in June 2021, citing laxity in dealing with proscribed terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), JeM, and others.
Despite completing 26 of the 27 tasks assigned to it, the FATF said Pakistan would not be delisted for the time being due to its failure to complete the final task of convicting terrorists and terror entities.
FATF
Pakistan was put off grey list after FATF expressed satisfaction
While putting Pakistan off the grey list last year, President FATF T Raja Kumar said: "Pakistan has taken action and largely addressed all of the action items it was subject to."
"The FATF inspection team verified that there was a high-level political commitment from the Pakistan authorities to implement the current set of action steps and show commitment to ongoing reform," he said.
History
A little about Pakistan's FATF record
According to reports, Pakistan was on the FATF's "black list" from 2009 to 2012 before moving to the "grey list" from 2012 to 2015.
It was placed on the "Regular follow-up" (RFU) from 2015-2018 after being removed from the "grey list" in 2015.
Similarly, it was on the "grey list" from 2018 to 2022 and will now be placed in RFU, reports added.