Qatar has reiterated its commitment to continue co-operation with the United Nations and member states to eradicate terrorism, affirming its co-operation with multilateral bodies within the framework of international co-operation.
Qatar has also expressed its belief in the importance of evidence-based policies and an understanding of the causes and forms of links between terrorism and organised crime, stressing its endeavour to enhance information security, encourage international co-operation to combat cybercrime, and provide a safe and robust cyber environment.
This came in a statement delivered by HE Qatar's Permanent Representative to the United Nations ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif al-Thani before the UN Security Council, which held an official meeting on "addressing the links between terrorism and organised crime."
Her Excellency has said that Qatar has continuously co-operated with these bodies within the framework of international co-operation, and referred to the international academic conference to study the relationship between organised crime and terrorism, which was held in Doha on April 25, 2018, in co-operation between the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the College of Law at Qatar University.
Sheikha Alya noted that in May 2017 Doha hosted a workshop on stopping terrorist financing, held in co-operation with the UNODC and the Financial Action Task Force in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena FATF), and also pointed to Qatar's participation in sponsoring the high-level conference on international and regional co-operation in combating terrorism financing through illicit drug trafficking and organised crime, which was held in Tajikistan's capital, Dushanbe on May 17, 2019 in co-ordination with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office.
She added:"Believing in the importance of evidence-based policies and understanding the causes, forms and circumstances of the links between terrorism and crime, Qatar participated in sponsoring the study on 'identifying and exploring the relationship between human trafficking, terrorism and terrorist financing', conducted by the Executive Directorate of Counter-Terrorism Office in 2018 to shed light on the issue."
She also touched on the necessary measures taken by Qatar at the domestic level, especially the continuous updating of laws and regulations related to combating terrorism and its financing, to tackle emerging terror challenges.
Sheikha Alya said misusing information resources and technologies and harnessing them to facilitate suspicious financial transactions is a constantly growing risk, that requires thorough study and effective tackling. She also pointed out that Qatar has been a victim of a cybercrime that has been a pretext for fabricating a regional crisis, severely damaging regional, international security and stability since 2017.
She praised the national committees established by Qatar to combat terrorism, organised crime, arms proliferation and interdependence between them, which took financial and economic measures such as investigations to discover networks that facilitate organised crime, noting the strict customs measures imposed by Qatar to combat the import of contraband.
Warning of the danger of international terrorism and crime in all their forms, Sheikha Alya said "what increases these dangers is that terrorist groups feed on crime, and in return, criminal gangs have benefited from the spread of terrorism." She referred to terrorist groups active in human trafficking which recruit young men to carry out terror operations and employing sexual violence as a terrorism tactic.
In the backdrop of the threat of terrorism and organised crime and in light of the current challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, she said, that these dangers are not limited to a specific country, and therefore bilateral and multilateral co-operation is necessary for an effective response, underlining the important role played by the UN bodies and agencies.
Concluding her statement, Sheikha Alya reiterated Qatar's commitment to continue co-operation with the United Nations and member states to eradicate terrorism, as well as organised crime of various kinds.