Paper details
| Paper authors | Erica Moret |
| In panel on | Syrian Remittances: Navigating Forced Displacement, Sanctions and Humanitarian Needs |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
In-Person / |
Abstract
This paper explores transformations in the political economy of remittance flows to Syria resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, tightened international sanctions and the 2019 Lebanese financial crisis. It also explores changes to domestic legislation on remittances in the sender countries of Germany, Jordan and Turkey, as well as recent shifts in the Syrian government’s approach on remittances. It draws on anonymised open-ended interviews (n=42), including with members of the Syrian Diaspora community, donor governments, humanitarian actors, banking staff, sanctions and remittance specialists, legal scholars and digital payment providers. It finds that remittances have acted as a vital lifeline to Syrian families in recent years, in light of waning humanitarian aid and exacerbating levels of poverty resulting from the decade-long conflict, sanctions and other mitigating factors. In spite of this, remittance flows have been hindered through several political-, economic-, legislative- and security-related changes in recent years. It finds that hewala continues to represent a favoured means for transferring funds, while the use of the formal banking sector, post offices and registered Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) have continued to decline. This varies according to specific governance, security and banking infrastructure considerations on the ground. It concludes with a series of policy recommendations, including those relating to technology-based innovations.
