Iceland: Coach driver rallies support for refugee day trips

The group spent about six hours on the tour, Mr Gudmundsson says

An Icelandic coach driver is trying to rally support for his idea to give free day tours to refugees.

Hans Gudmundsson recently took a group of 30 refugees on a trip to see the landscape of the Reykjanes peninsula using his coach, the Iceland Monitor website reports. "These people are now in some sort of in-between situation," he tells the website. "Sometimes it doesn't take very much to make someone happy - I just thought, why not?"

Mr Gudmundsson runs what he describes as "likely the smallest bus company in Iceland" consisting of "one man, one bus", and posted details of his trip on a travel industry Facebook group in the hope that larger tour operators would be persuaded to follow suit. The post received an enthusiastic response from those commenting online, with many people describing it as a "great initiative".

"Some of the big bus companies here have 50 to 70 buses," Mr Gudmundsson tells the BBC. "Hopefully they will also do a little, like I did. If many do a little then it's a lot." For now, he says he's in touch with the Icelandic Red Cross and plans to team up with them to provide some more tours in future.

In September, Iceland's government announced it would accept 100 refugees this year, following considerable public pressure. Thousands of Icelanders supported an online campaign for the country to take in more refugees, with some offering space in their own homes.

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