Online Petition Calls For A Nobel Peace Prize Nomination For Greek Islanders Over Help For Refugees
An online petition has been launched in hopes to recognize Greek islanders for their efforts in helping refugees. The petition posted on the Avaaz website is calling for a Nobel Peace Prize nod for these "unsung heroes" for their roles in the crisis, CNN reported.
Reports revealed that more than 280,000 have already signed for the petition as of Sunday. The said petition is addressed to both the Norwegian Nobel Committee and Greece's Immigration Minister Ioannis Mouzalas.
The online petition reads: "Ordinary residents of Greek islands and other volunteers have been on the front lines of Europe's refugee crisis for months, opening up their hearts and homes to save hundreds of thousands fleeing war and terror."
"For their compassion and courage, for treating those in danger with humanity, and for setting an example for the rest of the world to follow, we citizens around the world, nominate these brave women and men for a Nobel Peace Prize. Nobody is more deserving of such honor than these unsung heroes."
The Guardian reported Sunday that the nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize will on Feb. 1.
"On remote Greek islands, grandmothers have sung terrified little babies to sleep, while teachers, pensioners and students have spent months offering food, shelter, clothing and comfort to refugees who have risked their lives to flee war and terror," the online petition stated.
An activist in Greece for Avaaz said these islanders were the ones who gave aid to the migrants when they arrived in Greecian shores in search for safe refuge.
"The people involved in the solidarity networks organized and helped the desperate when the governments weren't even willing to recognize that the there was a crisis," Spyro Limneos said. "By opening their hearts the islanders sent a powerful message that humanity is above races, above nations."
Limneos went on, "I will never forget seeing young girls being rescued from a boat on Leros. They were smiling. They didn't have suitcases or any possessions except their end-of-year school certificates written in Arabic. They laid those down in the sun to dry out. It was a combination of tragedy and hope."
