海角大神

What happens on social media sometimes goes beyond social media.

On Sunday, Icelandic author and professor Brynd铆s Bj枚rgvinsd贸ttir took to Facebook with an open letter to the country鈥檚 welfare minister, Eygl贸 Har冒ar, urging greater support for Syrian refugees, . Ms. Bj枚rgvinsd贸ttir, dubbing the page 鈥�,鈥� encouraged her fellow citizens to comment, share ideas, and press their government into helping mitigate Europe鈥檚 escalating migrant crisis.

By Monday afternoon, more than 10,000 people had responded, many offering to house migrants in their own homes. Ms. Har冒ar that the government would reconsider efforts to expand Iceland鈥檚 refugee resettlement cap, which had been set at 50 people over the next two years.

The incident speaks to social media鈥檚 growing power to amplify a message, and cut "through the political noise and into the heart of a crisis where at least 2,500 refugees have died trying to reach Europe this year,鈥� Nina Strochlic .

The campaign comes as Europe experiences its worst refugee crisis since World War II. Millions of people from Africa and the Middle East are fleeing violence and poverty in search of a new life in a new continent; as of July, more than had fled Syria alone, according to the UN.

The crisis has strained relations between members of the European Union and tested the limits of humanitarianism, revealing a 鈥渄ark side to the continent: fences, tear gas, riots, and hate speech,鈥� 海角大神鈥檚 Sara Miller Llana wrote. 鈥淢uch of Europe see the migrants as 鈥榯he other guy鈥檚鈥� problem.鈥�

鈥淪yria is Calling鈥� represents the other side of that sentiment. As of Thursday, more than 16,000 people had responded to the page, many of them mothers, fathers, brothers, priests, all offering what they can to help: Shelter, clothing, plane tickets, friendship.

鈥淚 feel proud to see how many Icelanders are willing to open their homes and provide support and helping hand in these difficult times and I want to naturally do the same,鈥� Fida Abu Libdeh, one of the commenters, wrote. 鈥淎s a true Icelander I open my house for incoming refugees.鈥�

The campaign has also drawn attention to existing efforts to house asylum-seekers, such as Germany鈥檚 , an initiative that connects Germans who want to volunteer their homes to migrants. Hundreds of volunteers from at least a dozen cities across Spain have also said they would welcome refugees into their homes, Spanish news outlet .

A Facebook group in the United States called 鈥溾�� 鈥� patterned after 鈥淪yria is Calling鈥� 鈥� went live Wednesday.

Which isn鈥檛 to say that the challenges of integrating migrants into a population should not be considered 鈥� letting thousands of refugees into a country promises to be complicated and costly, as some Icelandic officials .

Still, the overwhelming response to Bj枚rgvinsd贸ttir's call showed that there is room for negotiation even amid growing anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe.

鈥淩efugees are human resources, experience, and skills. Refugees are our future spouses, best friends, our next soul mate, the drummer in our children鈥檚 band, our next colleague, Miss Iceland 2022, the carpenter who finally fixes our bathroom, the chef in the cafeteria, the fireman, the hacker, and the television host,鈥� Bjorgvinsdottir wrote on the Facebook page. 聽聽

鈥淸They are] people who we'll never be able to say to: 鈥榊our life is worth less than mine,鈥� 鈥� she added.