Keep in mind that here are multiple groups that try to raise money to support various causes and organizations in the region. Unfortunately, there are also many organizations which have been created to prey on people’s emotions who are moved by the suffering which the Christian Assyrians are going through in the Middle East. Some of these organizations are even created by bad actors that are only interested in taking money from caring and dedicated people for their personal use. These organizations are tracked and monitored.
NEC-SE encourages donations to legitimate organizations such as the United Assyrian Appeal and other legitimate Assyrian organizations, which provide support down range. It should be noted that most, however, do not meet the requirements to support the Assyrian military families in the region but can provide support for or through NGOs to support displaced peoples and refugees. But we urge prospective donors to make sure that the organization they want to support is legitimate and not a scam formed to line the pockets of its creators. Although this process of performing what lawyers call “due diligence” may slow the flow of financial support for the Assyrian people, we feel that it is better to be safe than sorry.
Donors need to remember that it is the sense of Congress that a substantial amount of funds are made available to carry out 22 U.S.C. United States Code, Title 22 – FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE, CHAPTER 32 – FOREIGN ASSISTANCE, SUBCHAPTER II – MILITARY ASSISTANCE AND SALES, Part V – International Military Education and Training,Sec. 2347 – General authority. No organization, including our United Assyrian Appeal organization, has the right to use funding in violation of this law.
With that in mind, we want readers to know that the U.S. Army’s Special Operational Command is “committed to disrupting financial transactions of all transnational threats as they are, whenever they present themselves,” says Army Col. Joshua Potter, the director of SOCOM’s J-36, otherwise known as the Transnational Threats Division.
