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]

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]

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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