ISIS terror attacks ‘were funded by British housing benefits’ as experts demand urgent inquiry
Experts are calling on the Government to put in place a system to monitor housing benefit paid to people when they leave the country
HUNDREDS of thousands of pounds in British benefits have been used to fund terrorism including Islamic State, experts have claimed.
Lord Carlile of Berriew, who has independently reviewed terror legislation for the Government in the past, said the problem had become worse during the rise of terror group ISIS.
His warning comes after the conviction of a Belgian national who helped to fund terrorism by giving cash from overpaid benefits to Brussels bombing suspect Mohamed Abrini.
The cash was given during a secret rendezvous in a Birmingham park.
Zakaria Boufassil, together with Mohammed Ali Ahmed, supplied £3,000 to Abrini, dubbed "the man in the hat" after he was caught on CCTV at Brussels airport just before the bombing in March.
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On Tuesday, Boufassil, 26, from Birmingham, was found guilty at Kingston Crown Court in south-west London of engaging in conduct in preparation of acts of terrorism.
Lord Carlile told "Several hundred thousand pounds in small remittances have been used to fund terrorism in one way or another."
He added: "[Such activity] has increased during the rise of ISIS.
"Certainly the Government should ensure that there is more triage available when housing benefits recipients are known to have gone to another country."
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