According to Reuters, a message from Apple CEO Tim Cook posted on the company’s internal website on Friday announced that Apple would match all employee donations 2-to1. These donations will go directly to relief agencies helping the refugees in Europe. The iPhone maker is also soliciting donations from Apple customers to the Red Cross via its iTunes Store and App Stores.
In 2015 alone, almost half a million refugees have fled from civil war-torn Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Lybia, Afghanistan, Nigeria and other countries in crisis to seek asylum in Europe. Making it Europe’s most dire refugee situation since World War II.
”Apple is dedicated to advancing human rights around the world,” Cook wrote in the message, as transcribed by Reuters. “We hope the actions we’re taking will help make the situation less desperate for some, and ease the hardship so many are enduring.”
Other tech companies have pledged financial support to ease the hardship and provide food, shelter and medical care to the refugees. Earlier this week, Google gave $1 million to the cause. In addition, the search giant matched the first $5.5 million in donations from its customers around the world to give a total of $11 million. The money was divided between four organizations: Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, Save the Children and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
On Friday, the International Organization for Migration announced that a record 473,887 refugees had crossed the Mediterranean to Europe in 2015. Syrians make up 182,000 of the refugees, or almost 40 percent of the migrants seeking refuge.