Susan Sarandon Answered Your Questions About The Refugee Crisis. Here Are Her Best Replies.

Susan Sarandon fielded Facebook questions on Wednesday from the Greek island of Lesbos, where she has been covering the ongoing refugee crisis for The Crossing, a immersive storytelling collaboration between The Huffington Post and the media company RYOT.

Lesbos is one of the main landing points for people making the dangerous journey across the Aegean Sea seeking safety and asylum. About 1 million refugees and migrants have arrived in Europe by sea this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

This week, Sarandon has offered insights into her experiences on Lesbos and put a spotlight on the efforts and stories of the many aid workers, volunteers and refugees she has met there. 

Over the course of three and a half hours on Wednesday, she expanded on her coverage in Greece and shared what she's learned.

Here's a selection of the best interactions from the Q&A.

STR/AFP/Getty Images

Sarandon has partnered with The Huffington Post and RYOT for a series of reports intended to shed light on Europe's refugee crisis.

David Darg

Several readers wondered what ordinary citizens can do to help the thousands of refugees arriving on Lesbos and other islands across the Mediterranean.

Sarandon advised that there are a multitude of ways for people to contribute, including donating to the aid groups she's mentioned in her posts and helping to inform people in the United States about the realities of the crisis.

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Other questions focused on how aid groups and processing centers are coping with the constant influx of thousands of people, as well as what the next steps are for refugees arriving on Greece's shores.

Sarandon shared some of what she has seen, highlighting the dedicated work of those helping to ameliorate the crisis and emphasizing the need for a more robust support system for refugees.

Facebook

Sarandon

Sarandon also fielded questions about how her time on the island has affected her on a personal level. 

In one exchange with Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, Sarandon talked about the unexpected moment when she received a FaceTime call from her daughter and granddaughter while she was with refugee families. (Sarandon goes into more detail about the emotional exchange in a blog post here.) 

Facebook

Facebook

David Darg

"I'm hoping that these messages and stories will open some hearts that are thinking only of the political impact and not of the human one," Sarandon said. 

While the refugee crisis has been widely acknowledged as a pressing problem, the issues of resettlement and accepting asylum claims are still the subject of fierce debate in both Europe and the United States. 

Sarandon addressed the topic a few times during the Q&A, advocating for countries to take in more refugees and to understand that the rights of displaced people are just as important as our own.

Responding to a question from HuffPost's Middle East correspondent, Sophia Jones, Sarandon also shared what she would do if she were living under the same conditions that have driven so many people to attempt to reach Europe by sea.

Facebook

Facebook

Actress Susan Sarandon is teaming up with The Huffington Post and RYOT for "The Crossing" -- an inside look at the humans and the humanity within the ongoing refugee crisis. 

Actress Susan Sarandon is teaming up with The Huffington Post and RYOT for "The Crossing" -- an inside look at the humans and the humanity within the ongoing refugee crisis. 

Tyson Sadler

image

Sarandon is on the ground in Greece to meet, learn and listen to the people making the perilous journey toward Western Europe -- or wherever else they can find safety.

Tyson Sadler

image

"Who are these refugees? Where are they from? What led them here? Where will they go? I have come to hear their stories and learn," Sarandon writes. 

Tyson Sadler

image

Sarandon visited "the lifejacket graveyard," massive reminder of the resilience of the human spirit stretches to the horizon. 

Tyson Sadler

image

"Everywhere you look, up and down this coast, there is evidence of the perilous crossing from Turkey to Greece. Life jackets, inner tubes and shredded rubber boats have become a fixture on the shores of the idyllic island of Lesbos," Sarandon writes.

David Darg

image

Sarandon joins the members of Team
Humanity and PROEM-AID, a nonprofit Spanish search and rescue association made up of emergency professionals, on a rescue mission at sea. 

Tyson Sadler

image