While European governments string barbed wire across borders and assail each other over asylum rules, ordinary citizens are taking action to cope with an unprecedented inflow of migrants, their generosity offering moments of hope for the newcomers — and for Europe itself. Long-established aid groups and freshly created online forums are working collectively and tirelessly to help where governments can't, or won't. [...] individual acts of kindness are what many migrants will remember, whether they build new lives in Europe or eventually make it back to Syria, Sudan or wherever they call home. Annika Holm Nielsen and Calle Vangstrup greeted refugees at Copenhagen's main train station with a sign bearing this message, offering to sail them across to Sweden, where asylum policies are friendlier. Many Danes have helped refugees make it across the border by car, train or boat — despite the risk of being arrested for smuggling. In Croatia, where tensions have soared along the border with non-EU member Serbia, people whose families were forced from homes during the 1990s Balkan wars are among those offering food to migrants. Carstoiu's offer— and attitude— stand in contrast with Romania's government, which was one of four EU members to vote against a plan last week to share asylum-seekers across the 28-member bloc. Carstoiu hasn't settled a family yet in his three-room family home in the small village of Silindia, but he is working on it — he's setting up a non-governmental organization in Italy to coordinate housing and other help for migrants, and wants to reach out to refugees directly via social media or in person. Many financially-battered Greeks resent the unprecedented numbers of hungry people arriving on their easternmost islands, but many others are reaching out — and opening their pantries. Eric and Philippa Kempson, Britons living on Lesbos, help bring hundreds of migrants to shore every week, greeting them with water and apples as they reach land. For people living hand-to-mouth in filthy nearby camps, it's a cherished way to stay connected to their families and the outside world.
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