Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris expressed his willingness to intervene and assist in the refugee crisis that has developed in Europe this past year.
“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,” Sawiri wrote on his Twitter account on Tuesday and added that the idea is perhaps “crazy” but could provide a temporary haven, before the people who would live on these islands make their way to their homeland.
Europe has had more than 300,000 seaborne refugees and immigrants in 2015 with approximately 200,000 of those entering through Greece.
Sawiris, who is worth an estimated 2.9 billion dollars, confirmed his interest in making such a purchase, which he estimates would cost anywhere from 10 to 100 million euros, to the AFP.
“You have dozens of islands which are deserted and could accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees.” he noted.
The Egyptian founder of the Free Egyptians Party and CEO of mobile telephone network operator Orascom TMT, emphasized the importance of infrastructure, building hospitals, schools and creating jobs on such an island. Sawiri, who decried the treatment of migrants refugees, also recognized the obstacles in the realization of his plan.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
