--- description: More than 11,000 Icelanders have offered to take Syrian refugees into their homes title: 11,000 Icelanders Offer to House Syrian Refugees image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt87ec4da42ec720e6/698861d3cd1bba5de46fcfb1/gettyimages-111512999.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Thousands of Icelanders Have Volunteered to Take Syrian Refugees Into Their Homes by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 1, 2015 6:14 AM CUT  Pedestrians pass along a street of brightly painted Icelandic houses in Reykjavik, Iceland, on April 2, 2011 Pedestrians pass along a street of brightly painted Icelandic houses in Reykjavik, Iceland, on April 2, 2011Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 1, 2015 6:14 AM CUT More than 11,000 Icelanders have [offered](http://www.france24.com/en/20150831-more-10000-icelanders-ready-welcome-syrians "undefined") to take Syrian refugees into their homes, after their government said it would accept only 50 people this year. A [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/events/1481734488816658/1481836258806481/ "undefined") event created Sunday by Icelandic author and professor Bryndis Bjorgvinsdottir encouraged members of the public to call on the government to increase its intake of refugees, reports Agence France-Presse. Messages on the event page offered food, housing, clothes and schooling. “I’m a single mother with a 6-year-old son,” wrote Hekla Stefansdottir. “We can take a child in need. I’m a teacher and would teach the child to speak, read and write Icelandic and adjust to Icelandic society. We have clothes, a bed, toys and everything a child needs. I would of course pay for the airplane ticket.” The overwhelming response has led the country’s Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson to appoint a committee of ministers to discuss the possibility of allowing more refugees into the country, which has a population of about 330,000 residents, [reports](http://icelandreview.com/news/2015/08/31/icelanders-want-welcome-refugees-pm-responds "undefined") the Icelandic Review Online. “It has been our goal in international politics to be of help in as many areas as possible and this is one of the areas where the need is most right now,” he told Icelandic news site [RUV](http://www.ruv.is/frett/bodar-radherranefnd-um-flottamannavandann "undefined"). [More than 4 million Syrians](http://www.unrefugees.org/2015/07/total-number-of-syrian-refugees-exceeds-four-million-for-first-time/?gclid=CKSG46Og1McCFcQUHwodZFQEdQ&gclsrc=aw.ds "undefined") have fled the conflict in their home country and a further 7.6 million are displaced inside Syria, according to the U.N. The number of refugees pouring into Europe after fleeing war and persecution in Africa and the Middle East is the highest it’s been since the end of World War II. _Read next:_ [_These Celebrities Are Taking a Stand on the Refugee Crisis_](http://time.com/4021288/refugee-crisis-celebrities/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Download TIME’s mobile app for iOS to have your world explained wherever you go_](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/time-mobile/id328218429 "undefined") ### See Images of the Mediterranean's Migrant Crisis  A ship belonging to Italian authorities approaches one of three migrant rafts some 120 miles off the Italian coast, about 40 miles from Libya, on June 6, 2015. Giulio Piscitelli  Italian authorities are seen during an operation some 120 miles off the Italian coast that rescued more than 100 migrants coming from Libya on June 6, 2015. Giulio Piscitelli  A boat of migrants that set off from Libya, as seen from a ship belonging to Italian authorities, during a rescue operation on June 6, 2015. Giulio Piscitelli  A member of Italy's Guardia di Finanza brings a migrant aboard after they were rescued from an inflatable boat, which originated in Libya and was found some 120 miles off the Italian coast in the Mediterranean, on June 6, 2015. Giulio Piscitelli  Immigrants from Bangladesh on a ship belonging to Italy's financial police after being rescued some 120 miles off the Italian coast on June 6, 2015. Giulio Piscitelli  An officer with Italy's financial police speaks to colleagues on a radio from the command cabin during a migrant rescue operation—which also involved the Italian and Irish navies—some 120 miles off the Italian coast on June 6, 2015. Giulio Piscitelli  Smoke billows from a migrant boat, set ablaze by Italian authorities so other smugglers don't use it, after they rescued more than 100 people some 120 miles off the Italian coast on June 6, 2015. Giulio Piscitelli  Rescued immigrants are covered with thermal sheets in Lampedusa after being rescued some 120 miles off the Italian coast on June 6, 2015. Giulio Piscitelli  An African man disembarks a ship belonging to Italy's financial police after being rescued with about 100 other people in an operation some 120 miles off the Italian coast on June 6, 2015. Giulio Piscitelli  An African boy stands covered with a thermal sheet in Lampedusa after being rescued some 120 miles off the Italian coast on June 6, 2015. 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