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Greek fishermen saving refugees to be helped by prize money in boat repair

Xinhua, January 13, 2017 Adjust font size:

Two fishermen of Greece's Lesvos island, who rescued hundreds of refugees in 2015 and 2016, will be granted prize money by the co-winners of Olof Palme prize to fix the damage in their boats that were destroyed in the recent snowstorm.

Spyros Galinos, mayor of Lesvos, and Giusi Nicolini, mayor of Italy's Lampedusa and Linosa, were the co-winners of the 2016 Olof Palme Prize for their "inspiring leadership" in assisting "fellow human beings fleeing from war, terror, and misery".

The two mayors will share the 100,000-U.S. dollar prize created in 1987 in memory of late Swedish prime minister Olof Palme, who was slain in 1986. The award ceremony is scheduled for Jan. 30 in Stockholm.

"The total amount of the money prize, which accompanies this award, belongs to the citizens of Lesvos," Galinos told Xinhua.

"Initially, the money will cover the damage to the boats of fishermen Kostas Pinteris and Thanasis Marmarinos," he said.

The boats, with which hundreds of people were saved, sustained damage due to the extreme weather conditions.

Lesvos experienced one of the worst snowstorms of the last decades in the last few days. The live stockers of Lesvos recorded huge losses due to the frost and the severe snowstorm.

"The severe snowstorm resulted in serious damage to olive trees and citrus trees all over the island," Galinos explained to Xinhua in a recent interview. The two fishermen's boats were destroyed in the snowstorm.

Pinteris said he may not receive this money.

"When you do something good, it gets back to you," he told Xinhua.

Along with other fishermen of Sykamia in northern Lesvos, Pinteris helped the coastguard in rescuing hundreds of refugees.

Marmarinos told Xinhua that the money that will help fix the boats is the recognition for their solidarity to the refugees.

"But either way, we won't stop helping people," he said.

The snowstorm also left hundreds of refugees and immigrants freezing in the camp of Moria. About 130 of them were transferred to local hotels by the UNHCR and 500 of them are scheduled to be hosted in the Hellenic Navy's vessel called "Lesvos". Endit