This Egyptian tycoon wants to buy an island to house Syrian refugees

An Egyptian billionaire has offered to buy a Mediterranean island to help the thousands of people fleeing conflicts in Syria and elsewhere, according to a report from AFP.

Naguib Sawiris, the owner of an Egyptian TV channel and chief of telecoms company Orascom, first tweeted his idea, writing: "Greece or Italy sell me an island, I'll call its independence and host the migrants and provide jobs for them building their new country."

He confirmed in an interview later that he would approach those governments, saying the idea is feasible.

"You have dozens of islands which are deserted and could accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees," said Sawiris. He said that, although an island would cost up to $100 million, the "main thing is investment in infrastructure."

More than 2,ooo people have died at sea trying to reach Europe since January. Many came from Syria, which is into its fifth year of internal conflict.

British Prime Minister David Cameron announced Friday that the UK will take in "thousands more" Syrian refugees. There's been a public outcry for the UK to do more to help.

Cameron said the Britain "will act with our head and our heart."

NOW WATCH: Chilling predictions for what the world will look like in a decade

Please enable Javascript to watch this video