Iris-scanning ATMs help cash-strapped Syrian refugees in Jordan
Iris-scanning ATMs help cash-strapped Syrian refugees in Jordan
The eyes have it: A network of cash machines officially launched by the UNHCR in Jordan last week aims to give Syrian refugees faster access to aid money.
4 min read
The project aims to help 43,000 mostly Syrian refugee families [AFP]
Syrian refugees in Jordan are to get faster access to humanitarian cash aid through an iris-scanning ATM network that removes the need for bank accounts and cards.
As many as 43,000 families - mostly from war-ravaged Syria - stand to benefit from the project, cleverly named "EyeCloud", which was launched in Amman last week by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
It is a "much more effective and efficient way of providing dignified cash assistance to the refugees in the world", said Andrew Harper, the UNHCR representative in Jordan.
The project, which has been undergoing limited trials in urban centres since March 2015, will give refugees access to cash in less than 30 seconds - not quite the blink of an eye - from machines equipped with biometric technology.
Following the success of a trial which reached around 23,000 families, around 50 specially adapted cash machines have been set up across Jordan in cooperation with Cairo Amman bank.
"The refugees who will be receiving the cash monthly assistance in Jordan are the most vulnerable of the vulnerable who live outside the camps, the widows with children, the elderly, the people who have no chance to work, no chance to support themselves," said Harper.
The system also has very low overheads, meaning that for every dollar donated to the cash assistance programme more than 98 cents ends up in the pockets of refugees.
As many as 43,000 families - mostly from war-ravaged Syria - stand to benefit from the project, cleverly named "EyeCloud", which was launched in Amman last week by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
It is a "much more effective and efficient way of providing dignified cash assistance to the refugees in the world", said Andrew Harper, the UNHCR representative in Jordan.
The project, which has been undergoing limited trials in urban centres since March 2015, will give refugees access to cash in less than 30 seconds - not quite the blink of an eye - from machines equipped with biometric technology.
Following the success of a trial which reached around 23,000 families, around 50 specially adapted cash machines have been set up across Jordan in cooperation with Cairo Amman bank.
"The refugees who will be receiving the cash monthly assistance in Jordan are the most vulnerable of the vulnerable who live outside the camps, the widows with children, the elderly, the people who have no chance to work, no chance to support themselves," said Harper.
The system also has very low overheads, meaning that for every dollar donated to the cash assistance programme more than 98 cents ends up in the pockets of refugees.
"Probably one of the most important things is that it reinforces the dignity of refugees," Harper told reporters during the trial.
"They no longer have to go to a UNHCR office and line up to receive their cash assistance. They can go to an ATM machine of one of our participating banks, just as anyone else would, and take money out."
A UNHCR official in Amman said more than 32,000 Syrian families would benefit from the new system, along with Iraqi, Somali and Sudanese refugees.
Previously refugees had to queue - sometimes for hours - and needed bank accounts or ATM cards to claim the cash.
The new system does away with all of that, while also ensuring the anonymity and dignity of those in need of assistance, according to the UN refugee agency.
"They no longer have to go to a UNHCR office and line up to receive their cash assistance. They can go to an ATM machine of one of our participating banks, just as anyone else would, and take money out."
A UNHCR official in Amman said more than 32,000 Syrian families would benefit from the new system, along with Iraqi, Somali and Sudanese refugees.
Previously refugees had to queue - sometimes for hours - and needed bank accounts or ATM cards to claim the cash.
The new system does away with all of that, while also ensuring the anonymity and dignity of those in need of assistance, according to the UN refugee agency.
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Previously refugees had to queue, sometimes for hours, and needed bank accounts or ATM cards to claim the cash. |  |
Jordan says it hosts 1.4 million refugees - about 20 percent of its entire population - who have fled Syria since the war that has devastated their country erupted nearly five years ago.
The UNHCR, however, says only 630,000 have registered with the agency.
Nine out of 10 refugees in Jordan live outside camps, surviving on only 68 Jordanian dinars ($100) a month.
Precious aid
Since the Syrian war broke out, refugees have nearly overwhelmed the agency's Amman offices on a daily basis, in order to register and seek financial assistance.
The process involves iris-scanning, a method the UNHCR says is efficient as it determines who is eligible to receive financial assistance.
The biometric data is uploaded onto specialised cash machines that dispense money to those eligible.
Suad, a 40-year-old widow and mother of seven, is one of the Syrian refugees making use of EyeCloud.
"It's quick," she said, after getting her iris scanned at an ATM and walking away with 120 dinars.
Suad's husband was killed three years ago in a Syrian regime raid on an eastern Damascus suburb.
After his death she and her children moved to Jordan, where they rent a modest apartment.
"We need every penny of aid to help pay the rent which stands at 230 dinars," she said.
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The aid is not enough but it is precious because it helps us pay the rent | |
In addition to the monthly allowance of 120 dinars she receives from the UNHCR, Suad also gets 100 dinars each month from the UN's children agency UNICEF.
"The aid is not enough but it is precious because it helps us pay the rent," said Suad.
"The most important thing is to have a roof over your head."
Mohamed is another Syrian refugee who says the aid is not enough to meet their needs.
"We need this money. My wife has cancer and we regularly need money (for her treatment)," the 35-year-old said, after collecting 50 dinars from the ATM.
And Ibrahim, a father-of-four, agrees.
"Everyone knows that the aid is little... but the situation would have been worse without it."
According to Harper, the UNHCR has provided more than $150 million to "the most vulnerable refugees" since 2012.
Last September, the world's leading economies pledged $1.8 billion in funding for UN aid agencies to help Syrian refugees, to make up for a shortfall during the worst refugee crisis in 70 years.
Thanks to the success of the system in Jordan, there are plans to expand it to other countries in the region as part of the Syria crisis response. Ultimately, Harper believes it will become the model for UNHCR cash assistance programmes around the world.
