By Molly Jackson, Christian Science
Monitor, Jan. 24, 2016
If the signatories to a popular petition
have their way, Greek islanders who have put aside their own country’s economic
crisis to care for more than 800,000 migrants during their first hours in
Europe will be nominated for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.
Ordinary Greek citizens have “opened their
homes and hearts to save refugee children, men, and women fleeing war and
terror,” reads the petition on Avaaz.org, which had attracted more than 290,000
signatures by Sunday afternoon:
With their actions, they drowned fear and
racism in a wave of compassion and reminded the whole world that we one, united
humanity, above races, nations and religions. Now we have a massive opportunity
to help them shine their light even brighter, and show governments that people
care and demand urgent action.
Greece’s Alternate Minister of Immigration
Policy, Ioannis Mouzalas, has allegedly offered support to the nomination, as
have a group of academics from around the world, according to the Guardian.
Nobel protocol dictates that formal nominations, which are due February 1, come
from specific qualified groups including members of parliaments, international
courts, and former winners.
More than one million “irregular” migrants
and refugees have arrived in Europe during 2015, according to the International
Organization for Migration, and more than 3,770 died at sea. Ninety-seven
percent of arrivals came by sea, often risking the journey in flimsy dinghies
from northern Africa or Turkey.
More than 820,000 first landed in Greece,
overwhelming a country already beleaguered by its own debt crisis, where public
services like food pantries and homeless shelters were running thin for
citizens well before the migrant crisis intensified. During the first quarter
of 2015, one quarter of adults were unemployed.
In the Aegean islands, which lay just
miles from Turkey, residents of Lesbos, Kos, Leros, and other islands have
joined international volunteers in welcoming migrants, frequently helping to
save passengers whose boats are in danger as they approach shore.
Last April, 34-year-old army sergeant
Antonis Deligiorgis was relaxing off-duty at a cafe with his wife as a boat
began to capsize in a storm off the coast of Rhodes. Images of Sgt. Deligiorgis
diving in and carrying 20 people to safety made headlines around the world, and
the Greek government has since awarded him the Cross of Excellency.
Many images captured the moment he carried
a pregnant Eritrean widow to shore. Days later, when her son was born, she
named him after Deligiorgis. The mother and child have since been granted
asylum in Sweden.
“I did what I had to do,” Deligiorgis told
the Guardian, saying he often thinks of the passengers who were not saved that
day.
Although he’s one particularly dramatic
example, many publications have reported on the efforts from visiting
volunteers and Greek residents to help provide clothing, food, and medical care
as migrants prepare for the next step of a grueling journey. Many accuse the
Greek government and international aid agencies of an inadequate response.
A Nobel for those who are pitching in
could set “an example for the rest of the world to follow,” the petition to
nominate islanders says.
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