ExtremismFinancing Violent Extremists
Ethnically or racially motivated terrorism (EoRMT) is a complex phenomenon that encompasses a wide range of actors. These range from individuals, that operate as lone actors or so called “lone wolves” to small and medium organizations, as well as transnational movements which span borders, and sometimes even continents. A new report finds that the funding of such terrorist attacks varies from country to country, adding to the challenge of tackling such financing.
Editor’s note: The FATF uses the terms “ethnically or racially motivated terrorism” (EoRMT) and “extreme right wing (ERW) terrorism interchangeably. In the United States, the designations for what the FATF calls “EoRMT is “ethnically or racially motivated violent extremism” (RMVE). There is equivalent official designation in the United States for what the FATF refers to as ERW. Rather, U.S. authorities use the term “ideologically motivated violence” (IMV) to refer to all ideologically motivated violence (right-wing, left-wing, environmental, etc.). RMVE is treated as a subgroup of IMV.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), created in 1989, is a Paris-based global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog. The inter-governmental body – it has more than 200 countries and international organizations as members — sets international standards which aim to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing and limit the harm they cause to society. FATS says that as a policy-making body, it works to promote and foster the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas.
The FATF has just published a report which focuses on the funding behind ethnically or racially motivated terrorism (EoRMT), also referred to as extreme right-wing (ERW) terrorism. The FATF says that extreme right-wing attacks have increased in recent years, highlighting the need to raise awareness about this complex phenomenon and its financing.
While most of these attacks were carried out by self-funded lone actors, they can also involve small and medium organizations, as well as transnational extreme right-wing movements. Few countries have designated these groups or individuals as terrorists and there are differences in the countries’ legal regimes to addressing their activities.
The FATF says that extreme right-wing groups can obtain funding from criminal activity, but most funding comes from legal sources, such as donations, membership fees and commercial activities. These groups are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the way they move and use funds and there are growing transnational links between the groups.
The report highlights the challenges in tackling the financing of extreme right-wing terrorism and preventing attacks. These challenges include how countries view the threat, ranging from terrorism to racially motivated violence.
The report encourages countries to continue to develop their understanding of this increasingly transnational criminal activity, including by considering ethnically or racially motivated terrorism financing in their national risk assessments. It also encourages public, private, and international partners to work together to identify the threats and exchange best practices on combating ethnically
