Warning: The video above of a January 2016 rescue and interview with Sky News contains highly distressing imagery.
MOAS rescues may appear a quick, easy, heroic feat. However, in reality, it takes hours. It gets messy. Not everyone always survives.
Our team consists of specially trained swimmers, medical staff and navigators. Our ship, “The Responder”, constantly monitors one of the world’s most deadly refugee crossings for vessels in distress.
https://twitter.com/PatrickKingsley/status/685510379754156032
“Increasingly, there is recognition that we are an asset to saving lives. We get help from people who believe that people do not deserve to die at sea. Our role is to save lives at sea.” ~ Martin Xuereb, Director of MOAS
The people fleeing and being rescued are from places of horrific violence and oppression. Survivors of war, human trafficking and violence on a scale that can only be called inhuman. The refugees we see are vulnerable children with women and men so desperate to leave that they risk their own lives and the lives of their families.
“We think it’s a collective responsibility. It’s everyone’s responsibility to do something about it. It’s a global situation that requires global solutions.” ~ Martin Xuereb
In the meantime, we will continue to save lives of the men, women and children who are at risk of drowning in search of a better life.