Paper details

Paper authors	Joseph Daher
In panel on	Syrian Remittances: Navigating Forced Displacement, Sanctions and Humanitarian Needs
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

After the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011, remittances have become an important support for the livelihood of large segments of the population, especially with the continuous increase in the cost of life and moreover since the mid end of 2019 with the continuous depreciation of the Syrian Pound and then the COVID 19 pandemic. This situation led indeed to a dramatic erosion of purchasing power in Syria.

However, economic data on the exact value of remittances to Syria is hard to tell. No new official estimates exist since 2010. According to this paper, remittances has however become without any doubt a crucial element of survival for large sectors of the population in Syria.

This paper examines the dynamics of remittances in selected areas falling under the control of the Government of Syria (GoS), the Kurdish led forces in the North-East of Syria, and Turkish military authorities and their Syrian proxy allies (both political and military), and Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in the North West.

The research paper has showed that the main channel to transfer remittances within Syria is informal network of money transfers. The depreciation in the value of the SYP and the major gap between the official and black exchange market further deepened informal channels of transfer in GoS controlled areas.

The means and dynamics of the networks transferring informally the funds depend however on the specificities of each region and the different actors ruling these territories.

The main source of remittances is European countries for the three analysed regions. In GoS held areas, Lebanon and Gulf monarchies are the second main sources of remittances, while Turkey is in the North East and North West. This reflects patterns and dynamics of migration of these regions.

The vast majority of recipients receive between USD 100 and USD 200 per month, on a nearly monthly basis, which is a significant amount compared to average wages and salaries in Syria. Alongside the financial situation of the recipients and senders, the choice of the transfer channel depends on factors such as the amount of the fund transferred and its frequency. The use of informal channels is strongly driven by cost and trust considerations.

The great majority of recipients spend large parts of their remittances on basic livelihood expenses such as food consumption (many families abstaining from consuming meat and some types of fruit) and essential products, especially heating oil in the winter. The rest of the remittances are disbursed on rents, medications, education payment of military tax exemptions and / or leaves from the army in GoS held areas, and personal expenses.

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