Islamic State
(asked on 26th January 2015) - View Source
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will commission research into possible links between ISIL and the smuggling of contraband tobacco.
This question was answered on 29th January 2015
We have spent considerable time analysing funding flows to ISIL (the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). Based on the information available, we believe that a substantial share of ISIL’s revenue is derived from the sale of oil and commodities, taxation and extortion. Revenue generated from the smuggling of tobacco is likely to account for some of this, although the amount is believed to be relatively small as a share of ISIL’s total revenue. We are working with our partners in the international community to deny ISIL access to funds and led negotiations for the adoption of UNSCR 2170 (15 August 2014), which calls on all states to ensure that no funds, financial assets or economic resources are made available, directly or indirectly, to ISIL or to terrorists more generally.
We have spent considerable time analysing funding flows to ISIL (the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). Based on the information available, we believe that a substantial share of ISIL’s revenue is derived from the sale of oil and commodities, taxation and extortion. Revenue generated from the smuggling of tobacco is likely to account for some of this, although the amount is believed to be relatively small as a share of ISIL’s total revenue. We are working with our partners in the international community to deny ISIL access to funds and led negotiations for the adoption of UNSCR 2170 (15 August 2014), which calls on all states to ensure that no funds, financial assets or economic resources are made available, directly or indirectly, to ISIL or to terrorists more generally.