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Swedish charity donations soar in wake of refugee crisis

Xinhua, September 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Charity donations skyrocketed in Sweden as Europe's refugee crisis unfolded over the past two weeks, local media reported on Wednesday.

Swedish donors had given nearly 150 million SEK (18 million U.S. dollars) to various organizations that help refugees, public broadcaster Swedish Television reported.

"There is no limit to the donations that can be used. The need is enormous," Morgan Olofsson, head of fundraising at the Swedish section of the Red Cross, told the channel.

His organization had collected 35 million SEK (4.2 million U.S. dollars) alone, with refugee agency UNHCR, Save the Children and local collection campaigns among the other recipients.

By comparison, charities that support victims of the Syrian war had collected 50 million SEK (6 million U.S. dollars) since the conflict began in 2011, the channel reported.

The Swedish charity organization FRII urged the public to continue donating to help cope with the crisis. (1 U.S. dollar = 8.29 SEK) Endit