An Egyptian Telecoms billionaire has proposed buying a Mediterranean island to shelter refugees fleeing from Syria and other countries.
Naguib Sawiris, who is believed to be worth $2.9billion, announced his idea on Twitter this week.
“Greece or Italy sell me an island, I’ll call its independence and host the migrants and provide jobs for them building their new country.” adding: “Crazy idea… Maybe but at least temporary until they can return to their countries??!!” “Of course it’s feasible. You have dozens of islands which are deserted and could accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees,” Sawaris tweeted.
The billionaire’s ‘offer’ comes in the wake of grisly photos of a Syrian child, three-year old Aylan Kurdi, who lost his life at sea while his family was trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. The mother and brothers also died in the fateful journey, while the father, a survivor of the tragedy has since returned to Syria, counting his losses.
Sawiris’ comments also come after a week of harrowing events, which have forced the world to acknowledge the scale of the refugee crisis taking place in Europe, and the billionaire estimates an island off Greece of Italy to host the immigrant refugees could cost between $10-$100million.
He however, reservations about investment in infrastructure and also admitted the plan has other challenges, including whether Greece or Italy could be persuaded to sell an island, as well as arranging jurisdiction and customs regulations.
But he insisted refugees who came to it would be treated as ‘human beings’, complaining: “The way they are being treated now, they are being treated like cattle.”
“No sane person with integrity would look at the news and decide not to take action,” he was quoted as saying.
Sawiris cited the 32,000 strong El Gouna, a resort town he developed on the Red Sea in Egypt, as an example of a “desert land that he turned habitable.”
