Naguib Sawiris, the 61-year-old Egyptian billionaire businessman has made an outrageous sounding offer to buy entire islands and start new countries in an attempt to solve the migrant crises. The chairman of Weather Investment’s parent company and chief executive of Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding S.A.E. He also owns an Egyptian television channel. Sawaris is reportedly worth $3 billion. Read his Twitter statements after the cut.
Thousands of refugees have already died this year trying to make the dangerous journey to Europe by sea. Others have died while trying to make the journey by land, entrusting their lives to human smugglers, Yahoo news reports.
According to AFP, Sawiris backed up the plan he first announced on Twitter during a TV interview and later said "Of course it's feasible."
"You have dozens of islands which are deserted and could accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees," Sawiris told AFP. "The way they are being treated now, they are being treated like cattle."
He conceded such a plan could face challenges, including the likely difficulty of persuading Greece or Italy to sell an island, and figuring out jurisdiction and customs regulations.
But those who took shelter would be treated as "human beings," he said. "The way they are being treated now, they are being treated like cattle."
They are beginning to make having a Muslim friend tricky!
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