CAIRO (Web Desk) – An Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has offered to buy an island off Greece or Italy and develop it to help hundreds of thousands of people fleeing from Syria and other conflicts.
The telecoms tycoon first announced the initiative on Twitter.
Greece or Italy sell me an island,ill call its independence and host the migrants and provide jobs for them building their new country
— Naguib Sawiris (@NaguibSawiris) September 1, 2015
“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,” he wrote.
Crazy idea .. Maybe but at least temporary until they can return to their countries ??!!
— Naguib Sawiris (@NaguibSawiris) September 1, 2015
More than 2,300 people have died at sea trying to reach Europe since January, many of them Syrians who fled their country´s four-and-a-half year conflict.
Sawiris said in a television interview that he would approach the governments of Greece and Italy about his plan.
Meanwhile the funeral prayers of Aylan Kurdi and other family members have been offered in their native city of Kobani in Syria.
The body of Aylan Kurdi, who drowned along with his mother Rehan and his five-year-old brother Ghalib, washed up on a beach not far from the Turkish resort town of Bodrum on Wednesday. Photographs showed him lying face down in the surf, wearing a bright-red T-shirt and shorts.
