Volunteer refugee aid worker honoured
A former IT employee who gave up his job to devote himself to helping refugees in Greece has won this year’s Prix Courage prize, given to those who undertake courageous acts.
“If I see injustice, I have to act,” Michael Räber said as he received his awardExternal link on Friday evening in Zurich.
40-year-old Räber has been working for about a year on the Greek island of Lesbos, giving help to refugees, many of whom are fleeing conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and other countries.
Räber’s work is an “act of heroism,” said jury president and national parliamentarian Pascale Bruderer Wyss. She put particular emphasis on the word “act”. Often people thought they should do something, but Michael Räber had actually done something and was still doing so, she added.
Räber’s life changed after he spent his holidays in Greece in summer 2015. He met a refugee in the capital Athens, who was living in degrading conditions. Two days later he had spoken to his wife, resigned his job in IT and started a small aid organisation schwizerchrüz.chExternal link with a friend.
Since then he has helped more than 100 refugees, including cooking for the homeless on Lesbos, helping people coming in on boats, and distributing around 14,000 pairs of shoes to those in need in a refugee camp the northern Greece.
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