The Syrian regime’s government decided to temporarily suspend for one week the decision that requires Syrian citizens to exchange $100 at border crossings when entering Syria.

The decision issued by the government yesterday, Sunday, September 29, included stopping the implementation of government decision No. “46” of 2020 and its amendments, which mandates exchanging $100 or its equivalent in foreign currencies accepted exclusively by the Central Bank of Syria (CBS) into Syrian pounds by Syrian citizens and those considered equivalent upon entering Syria.

The government justified its new decision by stating that it comes “in line with the emergency circumstances accompanying the Israeli aggression on Lebanese territories and the consequent movement of arrivals at the border crossings.”

The decision comes about a week after the start of the movement of thousands of Lebanese and Syrians from Lebanese areas to Syria through several crossings, amid repeated complaints from many Syrians that they do not have the $100 in the first place, which prevented them from crossing legally.

In 2020, when the government enacted the decision, it justified it as being “in service of the citizens, increasing the revenues of the Central Bank of Syria, supporting the Syrian pound, and seeking to curb the activity of the black market outside the borders.”

In a justification for not halting the decision since the start of the displacement movement, Alaa al-Sheikh, member of the executive office of the transport sector in Rif Dimashq, told Sham FM radio two days ago that the implementation of exchanging $100 for Syrians is part of the routine protocol followed.

She added at the time, “These are organizational procedures that are being expedited, and we adhere to all legal procedures until now,” noting that a percentage of the incoming Syrians officially reside in Lebanon, and some need “settlement,” which is done “simply.”

More than 50,000 people

Over 50,000 people crossed from Lebanon to Syria since last week as a result of the battles, according to a report published by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on September 28.

The numbers are increasing with the escalating Israeli attacks on the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut and other Lebanese areas.