More than 10,000 Icelanders have spontaneously offered to host Syrian refugees in their homes after the announcement by their government that the political asylums quota would be limited to 50 this year.
Originally an "event" created in Facebook by the Icelandic author and Professor Bryndis Bjorgvinsdottir who encouraged this popular movement, AFP reported. Multiple posts on the page proposed to provide food, clothing, education and shelter.
This spectacular collective response (more than 3% of the population!) led Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson to convene a ministerial meeting to discuss the possibility of enhancing the host refugee quota, reports the "Icelandic Review Online".
The number of refugees currently migrating across Europe is the largest since World War II. Over 4 million Syrians have already left the country, torn by civil war.