The Ministry of Communications in the Syrian regime’s government announced the exclusion of families from “government support” if the head of the household, who holds the smart card, has been outside the country for more than one year.

In a statement by the Ministry on Sunday, July 21, it said that updating the data of the beneficiaries of the support within the family electronic cards will be carried out according to the matching data in the electronic registry of immigration and passports management with the information in the electronic registry of civil registry.

The ministry pointed out the possibility of objecting to the automated exclusion from the support process.

According to the statement, the deserving individuals of these families will regain support if they return to Syria, three months after the date of their return.

Since early February 2022, the regime’s government began implementing the removal of government support from a group of smart card holders according to specific categories and characteristics, such as having a commercial record for one of the family members, owning a car with certain specifications, among other criteria.

The Syrian regime’s government believes that the restructuring of support aims to direct it to those who deserve it to achieve justice and support the most needy segments, and to cover the deficit in the state’s general budget, according to what the Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade, Samer al-Khalil, said at the beginning of the project’s launch.

Change in the support mechanism

At the end of last June, the Syrian regime’s government requested all citizens holding smart cards to open bank accounts within three months, in preparation for transferring cash support amounts later once the cash support system is completed and ready to serve the file appropriately, without specifying the time period that the distribution of cash support will begin.

It considered that the requirement to open bank accounts is related to enabling citizens to fully obtain their due support and preventing any encroachments on these dues from any existing or potential intermediary entities, without specifically mentioning them.

Although the talk about converting support to cash was previously met with governmental justifications claiming the inability to do so, the government recently hinted at the seriousness of its proposal.

A detailed report prepared by Enab Baladi discussed the feasibility of converting support to cash and its objectives in light of the current government direction, in addition to the impact of applying this approach on citizens and supported goods alike.