A few weeks later, Mr. Hajj asked the sponsors about going on welfare. He had heard about it from his classmates in English lessons. Some were enrolling, seeing it as a safer bet than insecure, low-wage jobs, they told him. One explained that he could work and still collect the government assistance, if he could persuade his boss to pay him under the table. With a sinking feeling, the sponsors began to worry: Had Mr. Hajj been withdrawing the money to game the system, to lower his bank balance so he would qualify for social assistance?
Refugees gaming the welfare system? Who saw this coming?