A Montreal businessman is soliciting funds for the release of hostages captured by the Islamic State (EI) armed group in Iraq. The initiative is controversial, however, as it fuels the ransom industry and finances a terrorist organization.
Steve Maman, a Sephardic Jew from Morocco, wishes to help members of Yezidi and Christian religious minorities from agreements with people who are in Iraq.
“We have brokers who are on the spot, inside the Caliphate. These are people who are obviously of the religion of Islam, but who do not necessarily agree with the practices towards the Christians and the Yezidis who are retained, “he explained on Monday, in an interview with 24 60 on the ICI RDI.
Mr. Maman did not “feel at all” the idea of paying a ransom to free the slaves. “We have logistics fees that are very clear. The danger is present, so [brokers] need to be equipped, they need security around them, “he explained.
“There is a job to get these children to the other side. There is a fee that is updated, “he added.
As to what happens between the brokers and the owners of the slaves, “one is not informed, one does not want to know it”, he maintained.
Until now, Steve Maman said he had released 128 children and young women.
To fund this initiative, he established the non-profit Liberation of Christian and Yazidi Children of Iraq, and solicits donations to “negotiate” the release of hostages. He hopes to raise nearly $ 10 million. Monday night, the organization had raised more than $ 420,000, according to its website.
Steve Maman, who said he was “in awe of our Prime Minister Stephen Harper,” said that “Canada was incredible” by donating $ 140 million in humanitarian aid to the displaced. ” It’s incredible. It is heroic, “he argued at 24 | 60 .
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A controversial initiative
“I am not here to question the goodwill of individuals who are embarking on initiatives like this, but we can question in whose name, in the name of what we are doing. Is it because we have money that we can do that? “Says François Audet, director of the Canadian Observatory on Crises and Humanitarian Aid at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).
“I’m always a little skeptical when someone suddenly comes up with the idea that nobody else has, and we’re talking about the thousands of people who work there every day, he.
“Several Western regimes are wondering if this is the right thing to do because when you start, it does not finish anymore. And even for kidnappings of hostages in number of a few tens, one is already against. What is it going to be when you’re with thousands? “Asks Frédéric Castel, a religiologist and geographer at UQAM, who adds that” on the other hand, from a human point of view, I think we can rejoice in this kind of initiative. ”
Amnesty International Canada, for its part, requested instructions from its international secretariat in London before commenting on the initiative.