Many Syrians working in the Kingdom are struggling to send money home to their loved ones for Ramadan because the Syrian government does not allow any remittances from Gulf countries.

Some Syrians are now using illegal methods to send money into Syria, while others are sending cash to countries that have many Syrian refugees, such as Turkey.

Mohammed Al-Turkawi, a Syrian opposition leader who lives in Jeddah, said the Syrian security authorities have control over Syrian banks and currency exchange offices and arrest those who receive money from Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

He said this has affected the Syrian economy. “There are many Syrians living abroad who played a big role in supporting the national economy through their remittances before the Syrian revolution,” Al-Turkawi told Arab News.

There are more than one million Syrians living in the Kingdom. Most of them have families and relatives still living in Syria.

Remittances to countries with many Syrian refugees have increased by 20 percent.

Ali Mansour, a Syrian living in Jeddah, said: “I cannot send money to Syria to help my relatives living there in tough situations. All the currency exchange offices there are controlled by the security authorities.

“The Syrian banks have stopped receiving money from countries that support the Syrian opposition. My uncle still lives in Aleppo with his family but I cannot help him by sending money.”

Most of the currency exchange offices are in Damascus. In addition, many have closed in other Syrian cities because of the civil war, said Al-Turkawi.

Abdullah Al-Halpi, a Syrian working in Jeddah, said: “I have relatives living in Aleppo but they can only receive money that I send to someone in Turkey who can enter Syria in the north.”

He does not send more than SR 2,000 at a time because there is a risk of thieves robbing and killing people carrying huge sums of money.