Expat remittances rise 25% ahead of Ramadan

Expatriate workers’ remittances transferred to their homes increased by 25 percent as the holy month of Ramadan approaches. Most expatriate workers in the Kingdom are keen to help their families with their remittances, especially to help them meet their expenses for the holy month and Eid Al-Fitr.
According to currency exchange offices, the remittances of expatriate workers during Ramadan exceed SR10 billion; these remittances will rise by 25 percent as result of the high prices of food during the holy month.
Abdul Ruhman Bahamdan, who is manager of one of the currency exchange offices located in downtown Jeddah, told Arab News: “We receive a lot of expatriate workers before the holy month who want to send their money to their families while during the last Ramadan, their remittances reached SR10 billion for the first time. However, the remittances of the month preceding Ramadan does not reach SR7 billion.”
Meanwhile, several Syrian residents in Saudi Arabia are unable to transfer money to their relatives who need to buy food for Ramadan as Syrian banks have stopped receiving remittances from certain Gulf countries.
However, there are some Syrian expatriates who resorted to sending money back home through some currency traders in illegal ways, according to a Syrian residing in Jeddah.
Some Syrian expatriates said, there is no alternative but to help their families and relatives who are living in hard situations in the country. If any Syrian expatriate transfers remittances to his relatives in Syria, the security authorities will arrest any one who receives this money there due to security reasons.
Mohammed Al-Turkawi, a leader in the Syrian opposition who lives in Jeddah, said: “The Syrian security authorities supervise the Syrian banks and currency exchange offices to arrest any one who receives money from Gulf countries, especially from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Therefore, some Syrian expatriates have resorted to illegal ways to send money back home through some currency traders.
“However, the stoppage of Syrian banks to receive remittances from abroad, especially from the countries that support the Syrian opposition has a negative impact on the national economy. There are high number of Syrians who are living abroad and they have a responsible role to revive the national economy through their remittances before the Syrian revolution.”
There are more than one million Syrians who are living in the Kingdom. Most of them have families and relatives who are still living in Syria. However, the remittances from the Kingdom to countries that receive Syrian refuges increased by 20 percent.
“I cannot send money to Syria for helping my relatives who are living there in hard situations. All the currency exchange offices there have been supervised be the security authorities. At the same time, the Syrian banks also stopped to receive money from the countries who support the Syrian opposition. My uncle still lives in Aleppo with his family but I cannot help him with my remittances,” Ali Mansour, a Syrian resident who lives in Jeddah told Arab News.
Most of the currency exchange offices are in Damascus. At the same time, the currency exchange offices in the rest of Syrian cities have been closed due to the violent war between the regime’s army and the opposition, according to Al-Turkawi.
“I have some relations who are living in Aleppo but they can receive money when I send money to some one who lives in Turkey and can enter the northern region of Syria. It is hard to send an amount higher than SR 2,000 to him as he faces the risk of being attacked by thieves,” said Abdullah Al-Halpi, a Syrian resident in Jeddah.