Icelander starts crowdfunding campaign for refugee selling pens
The photo which Icelander Gissur Símonarsson posted on Twitter was of a Palestinian Syrian refugee in Beirut, trying to sell a few biros with his little daughter slumped on his shoulder. photo/Gissur Símonarson
Over a thousand dollars were raised for a Syrian refugee when Icelandic activist Gissur Símonarson posted a picture of him on Twitter. The photograph showed the refugee. later identified as Abdul, selling biro pens with his little daughter slumped over his shoulder.
Símonarsson, after being inunandated with queries about the refugee decided to find him using the Twitter account #BuyPens and set up a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.
"Now it looks like this man will be able to start a new life with the money" - @GissiSim #Syria #Refugees https://t.co/7z2eT0oGdG
— BBC Outside Source (@BBCOS) August 28, 2015
Abdul is a Palestinian Syrian and a single father of two children.
Abdul is a Palestinian Syrian from the notorious Yarmouk camp seen in this photo. He's a single dad with 2 children. pic.twitter.com/egFy2Bk3lX
— Gissur Simonarson CN (@GissiSim) August 27, 2015
In an interview with The Independent, Símonarsson said, : "I'm now in touch with Unicef special protection unit to help get him to a safe location, and make sure he will not be taken advantage of.
"I'm also considering setting up some kind of fund that would give him payouts monthly, so he doesn't end up with a bag of money, and not know what to do with it."
The story of Símonarsson's search for Abdul and the fundraising has now been covered by The Independent, the BBC, Sky News and Vanity Fair to name a few.
Gissur Símonarson started an Indiegogo campaign for Abdul, which raised 1000 USD in only a few hours. Photo: Gissur Símonarson
Abdul and his daughter Reem after they were located #BuyPens. Photo/ Twitter
