An action plan to re-launch European solidarity
On July 4th the European Commission approved an action plan aimed at finding a solution –at least in the short run- to the issue of disembarkations on Italian shores. For…
Nobody decides to become a refugee
Last week around 12,000 people were disembarked on Italian shores after being rescued by 22 ships, mainly run by NGOs, which are operating at sea to assist and rescue an…
A Syrian family fleeing war
Jalal is 29 and comes from Syria. In 2012 he was forced to leave his homeland due to the nefarious consequences of the ongoing civil war. Jalal comes from Deraa…
Resan from Eritrea to Calabria in search of peace and joy
On June 12th in Cosenza the MOAS documentary, "Fishers of Men", was screened as part of a project called Cinema Ambulante. On that occasion, among hundreds of faces, a woman…
What’s left beyond criticism and fake news
On May 29th in Italy a report was issued by Cospe, Carta di Roma and Osservatorio di Pisa to discuss the role of NGOs operating at sea. This report focuses…
Migrants rest on the Malta-based NGO Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) ship Phoenix after some 700 migrants were rescued from six rubber dinghies and a wooden boat in the the Mediterranean in international waters off the coast of the Libyan city of Sabratha, April 5, 2017. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi
Walls and the illusion of safety
Walls are more and more frequent at the European and global level in a senseless race to protect ourselves and exclude others. Walls, fences, borders and razor wire - with…
© Francesco Malavolta
Wonder is the beginning of knowledge
"You know your work, but you want to engage them, you want to know them, and I think this is the best part" This is a quote from the MOAS…
Caritas Festival Porti di Terra , Caritas Benevento, May 26th 2017
A moment of silence. This is how I wanted to start my speech at the Festival “Harbors of Land”, organised by Caritas Benevento, who invited me to bear witness to…
How many more victims at sea?
After the awful Easter weekend in April another unprecedented situation occurred in the Mediterranean Sea on May 24th. In the early morning the MOAS' vessel Phoenix and its crew, spotted…
Death cannot be measured by numbers
For a while now social media and the press have been busy with fake news attacking NGOs saving lives at sea and those who defend them. There have been so…