BEIRUT — The Association of Parents of Lebanese Students Abroad held a sit-in in front of the Beirut Justice Palace on Wednesday to demand the urgent application of the “student dollar law” (Law No. 283), the state-run National News Agency reported.
Here’s what we know:
• According to the NNA, the head of the General Labor Union, Bechara al-Asmar, said, “Students abroad are [stranded] on the streets or outside universities, in the absence of any solution to their issue.”
• For his part, the head of the students’ parents’ association, Sami Hamieh questioned how tens of lawsuits have been filed against some banks “that have refrained from [making] transfers according to the student dollar law for more than a year now.”
• Hamieh demanded a meeting with the head of the Supreme Judicial Council to discuss the merits of the lawsuits, and to appeal to him “to issue a statement to strengthen the penal clause in the face of any bank that evades the implementation of the law.”
• The head of the students’ parents’ association also asked the new Parliament members to “hold their responsibility in following up on this rightful national student cause.”
• On April 12, President Michel Aoun approved Law No. 283 requiring banks operating in Lebanon to disburse $10,000 to Lebanese university students studying abroad who were registered before the academic year 2020-21.