Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) are to jointly launch a search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean to help migrants who risk their lives to flee conflicts and reach Europe.
Using the ship MY Phoenix from May to October, the service will attempt to rescue some of the thousands who are predicted to attempt to cross the Mediterranean by boat. An estimated 3,400 people have died so far this year attempting to reach Europe.
Arjan Hehenkamp, MSF's general director, told the BBC the situation was "dire", especially since the Italian navy's search and rescue mission, Mare Nostrum, ended last November.
“Europe has turned its back on people fleeing some of the worst humanitarian crises of our time,” continued Mr Hehenkamp. “The decision to close doors and build fences means that men, women and children are forced to risk their lives and take a desperate journey across the sea. Ignoring this situation will not make it go away. Europe has both the resources and the responsibility to prevent more deaths on its doorstep and must act in order to do so.”
“Our motivation is simple,” added MOAS director Martin Xuereb. “No one deserves to die, and we will do everything in our power to ensure that those who feel compelled to undertake this treacherous sea crossing in makeshift vessels do not drown. When we launched our operations last year, we rescued 3,000 people in 60 days. We hope to be even more successful this year as we will operate for six months alongside MSF.”
“We cannot put an end to the wars and misery which force people to leave their home countries, but we do have a chance to reduce the number of deaths and provide critical assistance to the thousands of human beings who will cross the Mediterranean this summer,” concluded Mr Hehenkamp.