Egypt’s 3rd richest man, Telecoms billionaire Naguib Sawiris, has disclosed that he plans to purchase an island off Italy or Greece and develop it to house hundreds of thousands of refuges fleeing from the conflict in Syria.
“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,” Sawiris said in a tweet on Tuesday that has since gone viral.
Naguib, who spoke to Agence France Press (AFP) after publishing his tweet, believes his idea is feasible and insists that he is serious about his proposition.
“You have dozens of islands which are deserted and could accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees,” Sawiris said in an interview to AFP on Thursday.
Acquiring an island off Greece or Italy could easily cost Sawiris anywhere between $10-$100million but the Egyptian billionaire believes he could build a new country from scratch by investing heavily in infrastructure.
Outlining his blueprint, Sawiris stated on Twitter that he could build temporary shelters to house the refugees, and then employ the people to build housing, schools, universities and hospitals.
“And if things improve, whoever wants to go back (to their homeland) goes back,” he added. Sawiris promised that if his plan works, the refugees who take refuge in his new country would be treated as “human beings”.
“The way they are being treated now, they are being treated like cattle,” he said.
It might not be smooth sailing for Sawiris’ idea. There are key challenges he’ll face such as the possible difficulty of persuading Italy or Greece to sell him and island, and ironing out issues relating to jurisdiction and customs regulations among other things.
Between January and now, hundreds of Syrians have died at sea trying to reach Europe while fleeing their country's four-and-a-half year conflict.
Sawiris, 60, is the 3rd richest person in Egypt with a fortune FORBES estimates at $2.9 billion, earned largely from his stake in Egyptian mobile telecom outfit, Orascom Telecom Media & Technology (OTMT), where he is CEO.
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