Actress Susan Sarandon lends a hand in refugee effort on Lesvos
Popular Hollywood actress and activist Susan Sarandon arrived on Lesvos on Thursday to witness the arrival of refugees on the island firsthand.
“The international community must see what is happening in this corner of the world. It must realize the size of the problem and understand it. These people should stop being ‘somebody else’… we must stand by them and support them,” Sarandon told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency Friday.
The actress, who spoke with volunteers and members of nongovernmental organizations operating on the island, explained: “As the mother of three children, I completely understand what it means to be a mother with children running away from war and the squalor, to reach the coast and to be forced to make this journey only because you must survive. Let’s hope that very soon the countries that do not participate in the effort to save all these people will do so,” she said.
Sarandon came to the eastern coast of Lesvos, a frequent landing point for migrant and refugee boats, early Friday. She is assisting children, in particular, helping them change their soaked clothes, socks and shoes. A 5-year-old Iranian girl, Semihan, and her two younger siblings captured Sarandon’s heart when the little girl burst into tears as Sarandon held her in her arms. “Have courage, you’ll make it,” she told the child’s parents when they got on board the UN bus that would take them to the Identification Center at Moria.
According to information, Sarandon will remain on Lesvos and will continue to assist the volunteers and the NGOs in the reception of the migrants and refugees.
