Refugee Rescue

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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]

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References

  1. ↑ HOME> ORGANISATIONS> REFUGEE RESCUE www.communityni.org accessed 23 May 2021
  2. 1 2 December 2020 update - NGO ships involved in search and rescue in the Mediterranean and legal proceedings against them 18 December 2020, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, fra.europa.eu, accessed 18 May 2021
  3. ↑ Refugee Rescue 'Mo Chara' www.refugeeobservatory.com accessed 23 May 2021
  4. 1 2 Refugee Rescue SAROBMED, sarobmed.org accessed 23 May 2021
  5. ↑ Meet the North Devon heroes who save refugees every night 19 October 2016 www.northdevongazette.co.uk accessed 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 The story of how 30 volunteers and one ex-RNLI lifeboat have saved more than 2,500 people on the shores of Lesbos 1 October 2016 www.independent.co.uk accessed 23 May 2021
  7. ↑ Help us save lives today- Donate... 'Registered With the Northern Ireland Charity Commission (NIC): 105156' www.refugeerescue.org, accessed 23 May 2021
  8. ↑ Our History- How it began... www.refugeerescue.org, accessed 23 May 2021
  9. ↑ They could be my neighbours: a day in life of a rescue boat crew 2 October 2018 helprefugees.org, accessed 23 May 2021
  10. ↑ Presentation- First : Mary’s presentation jean-rostand-chantilly.ac-amiens.fr, accessed 2 January 2021
  11. ↑ Mary Finn biggerthanus.film, accessed 2 January 2021
  12. ↑ Our work/ what we do www.refugeerescue.org, accessed 18 May 2021
  13. ↑ The SEA-EYE 4 - Operational Period: Starting 2021 sea-eye.org, accessed 23 May 2021
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