pigs.” In late August, Islamic Relief announced that its entire board would be resigning in a long-planned move that was described as “a part of far-reaching governance reforms” that had been over five years in the making. In January 2021, the Charity Commission of England and Wales completed a compliance case into Islamic Relief, stating that it was “satisfied that it [Islamic Relief] is making the necessary improvements in terms of the vetting of trustees, and ongoing oversight over their social media activities.” Later that same month, an Independent Commission helmed by former UK Attorney General Dominic Grieve, concluded that “the offensive views articulated by the former senior director and two former trustees did not in any way compromise the impartiality or integrity of the organization’s humanitarian programmes.” Other controversies In 2016, The Sunday Times reported that the banking group HSBC had decided to sever ties with Islamic Relief. The charity confirmed that in 2014 HSBC had invited it to “end the relationship” before doing so itself after the charity refused. HSBC did not state publicly why the relationship had been terminated but said such decisions “would typically include the type of activities the business is involved in, the jurisdictions in which it operates and the products and services it uses.” Islamic Relief said it was told that HSBC needed to “manage the challenge” posed by customers operating in “high-risk jurisdictions”. The charity called on banks to ensure their de-risking measures did not impact people in need of humanitarian aid. In 2017, the government of Bangladesh was reported to have barred Islamic Relief from aiding the Rohingya people in Cox’s Bazar, with an allegation that funds were being used to preach Islam, construct mosques, encourage radicalism, and fund militants. Islamic Relief refuted these allegations during the application process to operate in Cox’s Bazar and was approved to operate there. As of July 2022, the government of Bangladesh was working with Islamic Relief to aid Rohingya refugees. References External links Islamic Relief Worldwide website 1984 establishments in the United Kingdom Islamic relief organizations Islamic charities based in the United Kingdom Social welfare charities based in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1984