The student’s money is in the cashiers pocket

The future of Lebanese students abroad has entered the circle of danger, with the universities announcing that the registration period will end on the 15th of this month and the start of teaching. If registration is not confirmed before the appointment, the student will lose their seat. This is what most people fear for not being able to obtain the necessary sums due to the difficult economic situation and the high exchange rate of the dollar.

Today, the families of students abroad, we have fallen into what we have been warning for nine months, and we call on officials to find a quick solution to this great problem. Note that, unfortunately, we have not found out yet. We still have high hopes for what President Nabih Berri promised us two weeks ago to pass the bill aimed at supporting the student dollar. Here, we appeal to President Berri, who knows the lack of time, to convene a session of the mixed parliamentary committees to speed up the procedures for proposing a law that oscillates between negligence and delay.
We also express our concern about the fate of this project based on rumors issued by the Governor of the Banque du Liban at one time, and from money changers at other times, that students have received their rights, the most recent of which it was announced by the vice president of the Changers’ Union, Muhammad Halawi, in a television interview in which he explained the “benefits” it provided. For students, in compliance with Circular No. 5 issued by the Banque du Liban, which provides for student support in the amount of 3,500 dollars at a price of 3,900 pounds. We confirm that everything that was issued is contrary to the truth, and it is true that only 10% of families benefited with an amount not exceeding $ 600, and they were forced to sign documents of unclear content and in a humiliating way . Any objection of the people to the harassment of the money changers was met with a ready-made answer: “If God does not like you and you see others.”
After an audit, it was clear to us that the remainder of the amount is being sold on the black market at the expense of our children’s future. About two months ago, during our meeting with Halawi, we noticed that the tellers had manipulated the way to implement the circular, taking it as a legislative document for theft. We relayed our complaint to Pierre Kanaan, the legal adviser to the Governor of the Banque du Liban, and demanded that an investigative committee of the Central Inspectorate be appointed to examine the fate of the students’ money that was not paid. We ask the Lebanese Judicial Power to put its hand in this file, which entails the greatest waste of public money and constitutes a qualified subtraction of the rights of our students. As a matter of limiting liability, the association will initiate actions to file a judicial complaint to repair the students and hold those who dared to manipulate public money responsible.

* Association of Lebanese student families abroad

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