Special to WorldTribune.com

The billionaire Egyptian chairman of Orascom has offered to buy an island as a temporary home for refugees flooding Europe.

Naguib Sawiris, chairman of Orascom Telecom Media and Technology, an international telecommunications company headquartered in Cairo said in a recent Twitter post that it was a “crazy idea … maybe but at least temporary until they can return to their countries.”

“It’s a very simple solution,” Sawiris told CNN. “They [Italy or Greece] sell the island. I’ll create a temporary shelter for these people. I’ll make a small port and a marina for the boats to land there. Then once this is done they’ll have the choice either to go back to this country, or stay on this island.”

Sawiris, with a net worth of $3.8 billion, is Egypt’s third-richest person.

[WorldTribune.com reported in 2013 that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un had persuaded his father (Kim Jong-Il) to permit an influx of cell phones from Orascom, even though the phones don’t allow international calls.]

Sawiris even hinted he may pay the refugees to build their own houses, schools and hospitals.

“I am serious with my intentions,” Sawiris told Forbes magazine. “I want to feel good about having done something good. Provide me with the island and I will do the rest.”

Wealthy businessman Muad Mohamad Zaki has offered to sell his island in the Maldives to Sawiris, though it might be a little small for the tens of thousands of refugees pouring into Europe.

“If he is interested he can use our island … though it’s only 9.1 hectares (22.49 acres),” Zaki told VICE News.

  Egyptian billionaire offers to buy island for refugees to mitigate Euro migrant crisis, Muad Mohamad Zaki, Naguib Sawiris, Orascom, WorldTribune.com