Refugee Rescue

Last updated

Refugee Rescue is a charitable Non-Governmental Organisation based in Northern Ireland [1] which operates the rescue vessel Mo Chara from the North Shore of Lesvos, Greece, covering parts of the Aegean Sea. [2] [3] It also fulfills a coastguard role along that coast. [4] [5] [6]

Contents

History

Refugee Rescue was founded in 2015, [4] by Joby Fox and Jude Bennett; the charity [7] moved rapidly on from an initial coastguard-like role to purchasing and operating an inshore rescue boat. [8] [9] Refugee Rescue's rescuer and activist Mary Finn was featured in the documentary "Bigger than us", drawing attention to the problems of people-trafficking and refugees. [10] [11]

Rescue vessel

Refugee Rescue operates the Mo Chara (meaning 'my friend' in Irish), a 7.4 m ex-RNLI Atlantic 75 Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB). [12] The boat operations began in early 2016, and were paused in August 2020. [2] As of April 2021, Mo Chara operates in conjunction with the German search and rescue NGO Sea-Eye and their rescue ship Sea-Eye 4 . [13] In early 2023, the NGO announced a formal partnership with Sea-Eye; at this date Refugee Rescue had rescued over 16,000 people since 2015. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal National Lifeboat Institution</span> Rescue charity operating in Britain and Ireland

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blyth Lifeboat Station</span> RNLI Lifeboat Station in Northumberland, UK

Blyth Lifeboat Station is located at the Port and seaside town of Blyth, in the south east corner of the county of Northumberland, approx. 13 miles (21 km) north of Newcastle upon Tyne.

The Royal New Zealand Coastguard is the primary civilian marine search and rescue organisation for New Zealand. Unlike a number of other countries, the organisation is a non-governmental, civilian charitable organisation, with no enforcement powers. Uniformed agencies of the New Zealand government, including the police, Maritime New Zealand and customs, manage New Zealand's maritime law enforcement and border control. Coastguard in New Zealand is instead dedicated to search and rescue, education and community engagement.

A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crew and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine. Lifeboats may be rigid, inflatable or rigid-inflatable combination-hulled vessels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service</span> Lifeboat Station in Hampshire, England

Gosport Lifeboat Station is a volunteer-operated independent lifeboat station charity located in the village of Alverstoke on the peninsula of Gosport in the English county of Hampshire. Owned and operated by Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (GAFIRS), it operates free lifeboat services in the Solent from Portsmouth Harbour to Titchfield Haven, on the approaching shores of Southampton Water. GAFIRS is a charity registered in England and Wales (1159681).

<i>Golfo Azzurro</i>

The North Sea trawler MS Golfo Azzurro was launched in 1987 as the Maarten Cornelis, and was the first trawler in the Netherlands equipped with the EUR SumWing. From 2016-2017 it was chartered by the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms and was used for search and rescue operations near Libyan waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palling Volunteer Rescue Service</span> Lifeboat Station in Norfolk, England

Palling Volunteer Rescue Service was originally an independent, voluntary-staffed and charitably-funded inshore rescue service located in the village of Sea Palling in North Norfolk, England. First established by private funds in 1840, it was taken over by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1858 and operated until 1931, when it was closed in a rationalisation of regional lifeboat stations. Revived in 1972 by local people through monies raised from private, business and charitable donations, today the renamed charitable Sea Palling Independent Lifeboat, runs a single 6.3 Ocean Pro RIB, an Arancia ILB and a shoreline rescue Argocat, all covering the area between Eccles-on-Sea and Winterton-on-Sea.

Independent lifeboat services in Britain and Ireland began to be established around the coasts towards the end of the 18th century in response to the loss of life at sea. More recently, independent services have been set up in response to the increasing popularity of coastal and river sport and leisure activities.

The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) is an international humanitarian non-governmental organization based in Malta that provides aid and assistance to vulnerable communities worldwide. MOAS main focus is responding quickly and efficiently to emerging crises and make a difference in people's lives.

Hope Cove Life Boat, at Hope Cove in Devon, is a voluntary search and rescue service that operates an inshore rescue boat in the Bigbury Bay area. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) had a lifeboat station at Hope Cove from 1878 until 1930 which is now a listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proactiva Open Arms</span>

Proactiva Open Arms (POA) is a Spanish NGO devoted to search and rescue (SAR) at sea. Set up in October 2015, it carried out its first rescue action that same month from its base on the Greek island of Lesbos. As well as maintaining a permanent base on Lesbos, the NGO carries out its rescue operations from three ships, a sailing yacht Astral, the Golfo Azzurro and Open Arms.

SOS Méditerranée is a European, maritime-humanitarian organisation for the rescue of life at sea, currently operating in the Mediterranean sea in international waters north of Libya. The organization chartered the Aquarius and more recently the Ocean Viking in order to rescue people fleeing by sea from Libya and who risk drowning. The group was founded in June 2015 by German former captain Klaus Vogel and Frenchwoman Sophie Beau after the Italian navy ended the rescue Operation Mare Nostrum in 2014. Its headquarters are in Marseille (France), Milan (Italy), Frankfurt (Germany), Geneva (Switzerland).

Jugend Rettet is a non-governmental organization (NGO) from Berlin. Its goal is to save drowning persons at the Mediterranean Sea. Operations are conducted with the Iuventa, a ship that sails under Dutch flag. This ship was seized in August 2017 after suspicion of cooperation with migrant smugglers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anstruther Lifeboat Station</span> RNLI lifeboat station in Fife, Scotland

Anstruther Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station located in the town of Anstruther, Fife. The station has been in operation since 1865, although RNLI activity in the area dates back to 1832.

A number of awards have been established by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) since its creation in 1824. None are approved by the Crown, and are therefore unofficial awards. As such, they do not appear in the official British order of wear, although the principal lifesaving award, the Medal of the RNLI, can be worn on the right breast in uniform by members of the British armed forces.

Salvamento Marítimo Humanitario (SMH) is a Non-governmental organization (NGO) that is governed by the principles of "volunteering, solidarity, humanity, universality, equality, impartiality and dignity" founded in Zarautz (Gipuzkoa) in 2015.

RESQSHIP is a German charity based in Hamburg, with further branches in Freiburg, Mainz and Augsburg, founded in 2017.

Humanitarian Pilots Initiative (HPI) is an NGO with charitable aims, with registered headquarters in Rehetobel, Switzerland. Its stated aim is to provide a focus for 'committed pilots and supporters who use their abilities for humanitarian purposes – regardless of politics, religion, ethnicity or nationality'.

SAROBMED, the Search and Rescue Observatory for the Mediterranean, was a consortium of researchers, civil society groups, and other organisations with interests in the field of cross-border maritime migration. The focus was in particular on providing a monitoring system for refugee travel in the Mediterranean Sea.

References

  1. ↑ "HOME> ORGANISATIONS> REFUGEE RESCUE". www.communityni.org. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 "December 2020 update - NGO ships involved in search and rescue in the Mediterranean and legal proceedings against them". European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, fra.europa.eu. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  3. ↑ "Refugee Rescue 'Mo Chara'". www.refugeeobservatory.com. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Refugee Rescue". SAROBMED, sarobmed.org. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  5. ↑ "Meet the North Devon heroes who save refugees every night". www.northdevongazette.co.uk. 19 October 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  6. ↑ "The British volunteers risking their lives to help refugees across the Mediterranean- 'You can't just close your eyes': The British volunteers risking their lives to help refugees cross the Med safely". www.independent.co.uk. 1 October 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2021. The story of how 30 volunteers and one ex-RNLI lifeboat have saved more than 2,500 people on the shores of Lesbos
  7. ↑ "Help us save lives today- Donate..." www.refugeerescue.org. Retrieved 23 May 2021. Registered With the Northern Ireland Charity Commission (NIC): 105156
  8. ↑ "Our History- How it began..." www.refugeerescue.org. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  9. ↑ "They could be my neighbours: a day in life of a rescue boat crew". helprefugees.org. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  10. ↑ "Presentation- First : Mary's presentation" (PDF). jean-rostand-chantilly.ac-amiens.fr. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  11. ↑ "Mary Finn". biggerthanus.film. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  12. ↑ "Our work/ what we do". www.refugeerescue.org. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  13. ↑ "The SEA-EYE 4 - Operational Period: Starting 2021". sea-eye.org. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  14. ↑ "Irish charity Refugee Rescue prepares for mission in the Mediterranean". IrishCentral.com. 24 January 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.