São Paulo – Approximately 30,000 Syrian refugees will receive aid from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) by means of magnetic cards similar to credit cards. The money is to be spent on daily needs such as rental, transport, food and clothing, among others, and repayment will not be required.
The UNHCR developed a pilot project with 200 families in North Lebanon in the last week of January. Each registered family received a card granting access to an account in which a US$ 150 deposit was made, plus another US$ 25 for each relative. Now that the program has been extended to the cities of Akkar and Tripoli, each family will be paid an average of US$ 240. The refugees will be able to withdraw the money at a local bank using the magnetic card.
The UNHCR informed that this method, which is similar to Brazil’s federal income transfer program Bolsa Família , will service Syrian refugees and the communities that have accommodated them. According to the UNHCR, prices have risen sharply in these locations, and this has affected the locals as well.
The card will also benefit the economies of these cities, according to the UN agency. This measure was adopted in Lebanon because unlike Turkey, Iraq and Jordan, the country does not have specific camps for refugees from the conflicts that have plagued Syria for almost two years now.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
