Parents of students abroad demonstrate in Tripoli, June 6, 2023. (Courtesy of: Michel Hallak/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Two dozen parents of students enrolled in universities abroad staged a sit-in Tuesday in front of a branch of the Arab Bank in Tripoli, urging authorities to implement a proposed "student dollar law" that would help pay university expenses.
The student dollar law authorized the transfer abroad of an annual amount of $10,000, calculated on the basis of the official rate of LL15,000 to the dollar, to any student enrolled at a foreign university since before the onset of the crisis in 2019.
A banking source told L'Orient-Le Jour that, since the official devaluation of the lira rate from LL1,500 to LL15,000 against the dollar, the latter is the rate used to transfer Lebanese bank funds abroad for university expenses under the law.
The measure comes as the Lebanese lira has spiraled below the official exchange rate on the parallel market, now hovering at around LL93,000 to the dollar.
Tuesday's demonstrators blocked the bank doors, claiming that their children's academic futures were "seriously compromised."
They also urged authorities to "force the banks to rapidly implement" the student dollar law.
Since the onset of the socio-economic crisis, parents of Lebanese students studying abroad have been holding regular demonstrations to demand improved access to funds for their children.
Reporting contributed by Michel Hallak