Parents of Lebanese students abroad protest outside the French Embassy in Beirut in May 2021. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT – Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib announced that 890 Lebanese students abroad will receive a cash assistance payment of around $900, as part of a donation sponsored by the country’s tobacco authority, the Regie Libanaise de Tabacs et Tombacs, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Here’s what we know:
• Bou Habib’s announcement followed his meeting with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Education Minister Abbas Halabi. He noted that after a 15 day registration period and the completion of a process to determine which students had “the greatest need,” 890 students were selected to receive $898 each from the “evenly divided” $800 thousand donated by the Regie. Students benefiting from the donation can access these funds at Lebanese diplomatic missions abroad.
• The amount to be distributed to the 890 students constitutes the first part of the Regie’s donation of $1 million, with the rest of the amount to be given out “soon.”
• Lebanese students abroad have faced difficulties financing their education due to the inaccessibility of foreign currency amid banking restrictions and the economic crisis. A “student dollar law,” which would allow dollar transfers from Lebanon at the official rate of LL1515 to help students finance their education, advocated for by the parents of students studying abroad, was sent back to Parliament by President Michel Aoun on Jan. 7.