An Egyptian billionaire has contacted the owners of two islands to buy a Greek island to provide housing and jobs for the refugees and migrants that are fleeing crises in the Middle East.
After floating the “crazy idea” on Twitter earlier this month, the office of Naguib Sawiris said the 61-year-old has contacted the owners of two private islands and is now hoping to get the Greek government involved. Earlier this week, he told Newsweek that he had he yet to receive a formal response to his idea from Greece or Italy, the two nations whose islands he first proposed buying.
“We are seeking the [Greek] government’s consent to be willing to take care of the administrative process of permitting entrance of refugees to the island, which will fall under Greek jurisdiction,” reads a memo he shared on Twitter on Monday. The memo refers to the project as Aylan Island, named for the 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, whose body was discovered on a Turkish beach after a boat carrying his family capsized en route to a Greek island.
(Read next: What the Image of Aylan Kurdi Says About the Power of Photography)
Sawiris said he would spend up to $200 million on the project and that he had received 10,000 emails from potential donors and volunteers.
He also had harsh words for his critics.
“I would tell them that’s what I came up with, if you have a better idea, you are welcome,” he said. “The rule in my corporate world, anybody who criticized my solution and does not have any better solution, I would tell them to shut the f—k up.”
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Introducing the 2024 TIME100 Next
- Sabrina Carpenter Has Waited Her Whole Life for This
- What Lies Ahead for the Middle East
- Why It's So Hard to Quit Vaping
- Jeremy Strong on Taking a Risk With a New Film About Trump
- Our Guide to Voting in the 2024 Election
- The 10 Races That Will Determine Control of the Senate
- Column: How My Shame Became My Strength
Write to Nolan Feeney at nolan.feeney@time.com