The Uruguayan government is cutting financial aid for a Syrian refugee family for one month as punishment for an incident in which the family patriarch doused himself with gasoline.

Twenty-one-year-old Ibrahim Alshebli tells The Associated Press that the family shouldn't suffer the sanction because his father acted out of frustration but wasn't being violent.

During a meeting with government officials last month, Merhi Alshebli doused himself with gasoline. He did not light himself on fire. Alshebli and other Syrian refugees resettled in Uruguay last year have complained that the government hasn't helped enough.

A government official confirmed the sanction late Wednesday, but said the family would be given food for the month. The family and government have declined to specify the amount of monthly aid.