Syrian Embassy in Beirut allows payment to avoid conscription
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – On Saturday, the Syrian Embassy in Beirut issued a statement allowing Syrians with Lebanese residence to pay cash to avoid their compulsory military service.
That statement explained that they can pay either in the Syrian Embassy in Beirut or in Syria through concerned offices in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Damascus.
Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Damascus set the allowance payment at $8,000 for Syrians who have spent four consecutive years in another country.
Syrians are allowed to visit Syria, the total period of which do not exceed three months. Any visits exceeding this period will reset the clock and Syrians will have to remain longer outside of the country.
Mazen Sukar, a young Syrian who has been working in Lebanon for more than four years, said that he was forced, due to a health emergency, to exceed the permissible annual period of visits.
“I was shocked when the year was not counted because I exceeded the period by half a month so they cancelled the year, and an extra year was imposed on me to be able to pay the allowance,” he told North Press.
The statement focused on the possibility of requesting the payment of the cash allowance for those who was not previously deferred, and that an agent can, under a legal agency, apply for the payment of the cash amount from his client.
Those who pay the allowance get a document which is similar to the service document, through which they can apply for passport for six years and enter Syria in a regular way, he added.