By Sarbast Hassan
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Every time Nozad Ali transfers money to his sister, who is studying pharmacy at Damascus University, he has to answer a couple of questions: why, what is his job, where did he get the money from, where is his sister living, and how many cash transfers he makes each month. Additionally, there are other procedures, such as taking a copy of his and his sister’s IDs and their addresses.
Sometimes, to avoid this tricky process, he transfers money in illegal ways. He gives the money to individuals in the city of Qamishli in northeast Syria, while others in Damascus hand the money directly to his sister.
Money transfers between northeast region of Syria that is run by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) except for some neighborhoods in the cities of Qamishli and Hasakah, and the capital, Damascus, are common because many students study in Syrian universities, as well as a significant number of people travels to the capital to seek medical treatment.
There are few exchange and money transfer companies connecting between the government-held areas and other Syrian regions.
However, recently, they have been described as resembling security branches, as there is intensive verification of the sender for any security issues before delivery. This sometimes leads to fear and frustration for the recipient.
Security-affiliated offices
In government-held areas, there is a main exchange and money transfer company called al-Khatib company, also known as the “Secret Office.” This company has two main branches, al-Fadel and al-Zain companies. Additionally, there are two affiliated offices, namely al-Haram and al-Fouad, which are associated with al-Fadel and al-Zain respectively. All these remittance companies closely cooperate with the government’s Criminal Security Branch.
All remittance offices are subject to auditing and inspection by the Criminal Security Branch. However, other security agencies unofficially intervene through their own sources, which operate within these companies. In many cases, managers of these offices work in collaboration with multiple security branches, a clerk at al-Haram office told North Press.
Visitors to these offices are questioned about the source of the money they would like to transfer and the intended recipient. The IDs for both sender and recipient are required during the transaction, according to the clerk who preferred not to be named for security reasons.
He further explained that a daily report is submitted to the Criminal Security Branch and the Central Bank, detailing the incoming and outgoing amounts.
When opening a new branch for these companies, a sum of 300 million Syrian pounds ($20,000) is deposited into the Central Bank.
The maximum allowed amount for remittance within Syria is two million SYP ($133). If a person exceeds this limit more than three times, his/her name is automatically transferred to the Military Security Branch for necessary actions to be taken.
Market hegemony
After the eruption of the Syrian crisis, the country’s informal remittance market gained importance due to several factors, including the disruption of the banking system as a result of the absence and incapacity of state institutions especially in areas beyond the control of the government.
Many exchange and remittance offices operating outside the government-held areas deal with al-Haram and al-Fouad companies, with the approval of al-Fadel and al-Zain companies. The aim of these companies is to control the financial market, regulate the flow of dollars, and monitor the amounts of money entering Syria through illegal means in these non-government-controlled areas.
They also seek to identify traders and industrialists who engage in secret foreign currency transactions while residing in government-controlled areas and who leak or transfer their funds to non-governmental held areas.
Both al-Haram and al-Fouad receive external remittance in a legitimate manner from various parts of the world through Western Union. The names of senders and recipients for these external remittances are sent to the Political Security Branch.
As for the amount of money involved in external remittances, it is not specified, but it is handed to the recipient in the Syrian pounds, not in dollars, according to the dollar exchange rate at the Central Bank, rather than the black market rates.
Strict security measures
Anyone attempting to send a remittance from areas outside the control of the Syrian government to areas under its control, or vice versa, undergoes a detailed investigation by the remittance offices. The situation has reached a point where they even capture a photograph of the sender as part of the process.
One of the residents told North Press “When I went to al-Haram office in Qamishli to send money to my wife in Aleppo, the employee started asking me a series of questions as if I had committed a crime. “Why are you sending the money? Where did you get it from? What do you do?”
“While I was waiting for them to finish what they called creating a file for me, I overheard the sound of a picture being taken from the employee’s laptop.”
When North Press asked why they were secretly taking a picture from a surveillance camera in front of the information window, an employee working in the Office, who preferred not to be named, explained that the company required them to take a picture of both the sender and the recipient every time money was sent. They also took a picture of the recipient at the same time to be added to their files.