Related: UN urges more zakat donations as Covid-19 aid cuts hit
People in the UAE last year made more online donations to the UN's Refugee Zakat Fund than any other country.
Almost 3,500 donations, worth almost $3 million, were sent from people in the UAE to help refugees and the displaced around the world.
$61.5 million was raised through donations to the UNHCR’s Refugee Zakat Fund last year, with 3,406 separate donors coming from the Emirates alone.
The country ranked above Saudi Arabia, the US, Kuwait and Qatar, who made up the rest of the top five nations in terms of the number of donations.
Khaled Khalifa, the UNHCR's regional representative to GCC countries and senior adviser for Islamic philanthropy, said the issue of refugees and the displaced was more pressing in Muslim countries than others.
UNHCR zakat donations (digital giving from individuals)
1. UAE
2. KSA
3. USA
4. Kuwait
5. Qatar
“The needs in the Muslim world are huge because the Middle East accounts for 39 per cent of the 80 million refugees and displaced people in the world,” he said.
“That number increases to 51 per cent if you include the countries in the wider OIC [Organisation of Islamic Co-operation].”
Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam and is a form of almsgiving that is often treated as a tax or religious obligation.
Muslims around the world donate close to $76 billion in zakat each year.
Mr Khalifa said Muslims are obliged to pay zakat annually if they have a certain amount of savings in the bank.
Zakat aid crucial for refugees
The amount of zakat owed is 2.5 per cent of a person's wealth, providing those savings are not below a threshold figure known as nisab.
“Some people choose to give zakat during Ramadan as they believe they are doubly rewarded,” he said.
“There is a difference between zakat and tax. They [the donors] do not have any obligation to show anybody they have paid zakat.
“It is not a legal obligation in the vast majority of Muslim countries. It is between you and God.”
UNHCR funding shortfalls
Mr Khalifa said Covid-19 had a wide-ranging effect on refugees.
“Refugees were hit hard by the pandemic and not just from a health point of view,” he said.
“The vast majority, about 99 per cent, are dependent on daily labour and were hit hard in their pockets as they lost their livelihoods.
“The number of refugees living in poverty increased dramatically. For them, it was an emergency on top of an emergency.”
Food insecurity dramatically increased owing to the pandemic, he said.
There are almost 10 million people at risk of famine in Yemen, with the number facing the same crisis in Cameroon estimated to be three million, according to Mr Khalifa.
“The number of children in Bangladesh who are facing an acute risk of malnutrition is about 11.2 per cent,” he said.
“In the refugee camps, social distancing is a luxury they cannot afford. The same goes for wearing masks.
“The world has to appreciate they face different emergencies to the rest of us and they need help urgently.”
He also said it was vital that refugees were not forgotten about when it came to vaccination programmes.
