By this point I’m sure most people have heard of the very alarming Syrian Refugee crisis. With an estimated 4 million refugees having fled the country since 2011, the United Nations is calling this the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.
What may have seemed like nothing more than a thinking out loud style tweet has quickly developed into something incredible, sounding more like something out of a movie than a real life response to crisis. Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris tweeted the following on September first:
He does recognize that his idea may seem a little crazy and farfetched, but he’s definitely seriously considering it, if his subsequent tweet is any indication.
Who Is Naguib Sawaris?
Sawaris is the third richest man in Egypt – with a net worth of 2.9 billion dollars – and chairman of Orascom Telecom Media and Technology, an international telecommunications company from Cairo.
In an interview with CNN, Sawaris said:
It’s a very simple solution, they [Italy or Greece] sell the island to me. I’ll make a temporary shelter for these people, I’ll make a small port and a marina for boats to land there. I’ll employ the people to build their own places, their own houses … I’ll give them jobs and shelter [until their country is more stable], then once this is done, they can have the choice whether either to go back to their country or stay on this island, the problem is in the politicians. … all I need is the permission to put these people on this island.”
What’s The Catch?
So far, there doesn’t seem to be one. Sawiris appears to be a genuine man with good intentions who wants to help (and just happens to have a few billion dollars to make it happen).
In an interview with Forbesmagazine, Sawaris said: “I am serious with my intentions, I want to feel good about having done something good, provide me with the island and I will do the rest. “
From reading several other twitter posts made by Sawaris, it becomes clear that this kind-hearted man was inspired by the death of Aylan Kurdi, the three-year-old boy who drowned off the coast of Turkey with his mother and brother. A picture of the boy’s body washed up on shore made media headlines and revealed the severity of this refugee crisis to the world. He intends to name the island after the boy.
Shortly after this tweet was made, another followed with a hashtag Sawiris had created for his endeavour, #aylanISLAND, and a call for volunteers to help with this extrememely ambitious project.
Sawaris has many people behind him who fully support his idea and want to help. Could it be the solution to this devastating crisis?
Much Love
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Replies
Here is the man himself, Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris talking about his plans to re~house refugees and more besides ..
maybe this would work for just few interested. One never knows .....
With all of Mr.Sawiris 's good intentions of helping the Syrian people but then there those who don't like to see people helping others.i often see this other side emerging too and i found there is dark side to human nature ...We have seen this through out history . Some people lack the compassion to help others and they exist in every level of society.Humanity has paid a terrible price in helping others .These individuals can be our family members,husbands ,wife,lover,business associate,friends,..etc.. They don't like to see people happy because they don't have anything to give and they use other people to get where they are .yes, its sad to see this dark side of human nature and this includes animals ,birds,fish,mammals ..etc... There is still is a brighter side as well but humanity must never lose the compassion to help others and i believe there will be more compassionate people than the dark side of humanity ...As the light becomes more stronger and brighter we don't see so much darkness on our planet ..
It'll take him more than 2 years to make the island ready for human colonies, and .. I haven't yet seen any plans from him that describe HOW this would be accomplished.
Anyone can buy an island. I remember that english platform island that were purchased in the 90's and that were made to be a "haven" for people who didn't like their own govts. All that island have been able to come up with so far, are servers for childporn sites.
In short: The civilized world will need to hear a bit more than just "create a haven for refugees" before they're proned to allow yet another "island of the free" to emerge in european waters.
We've tried it already, and what we got were a childsex-haven. Therefore, we need more info before we can allow it again.
The Politicians will face serious ridicule if they dont aggree to his rather well meaning idea, he has now put them in the spotlight to act with good will and they better do so, they cant refuse, otherwise there will be hell to pay ...
the politicians won't do it because it maskes governments look weak and insignificant-they may now co-opt the idea and it will cost taxpayers 4-5 times as much
Not a bad idea and one should take up on this offer