Migrant Offshore Aid Station

The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) is an international humanitarian organisation based in Malta dedicated to providing aid and emergency medical relief to refugees and migrants around the world.

Founded in 2013 in response to the Mediterranean maritime migration phenomenon, today MOAS is working in Bangladesh to provide emergency medical care and assistance to Rohingya refugees fleeing from violence and persecution in Myanmar.

History
Cofounder Chris Catrambone on Phoenix

MOAS was set up after the tragedies of 2013 when two vessels, one carrying people from Eritrea and Somalia and one carrying Syrian refugees, capsized on the way from North Africa to Europe.[1][2] Each year, thousands of people, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, the Horn of Africa, and Syria, risk their lives when attempting this perilous crossing on rickety boats. MOAS was established to mitigate this loss of life at sea to the greatest extent possible. MOAS uses all its resources to assist the respective rescue coordination centres in locating and treating suffering human beings, and to save lives where required.

Christopher and Regina Catrambone[3][4]founded the project in 2013 with the aim of alleviating the needless suffering of thousands of people seeking a safe and stable new home.[5][6] MOAS has received various awards since it was set up, including Italy's Order of Merit[7][8]and Malta's Medal for Service for the Republic (Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika).[9] MOAS also received an award for Civic Engagement by the Today Public Policy Institute in November 2015.[10] In 2016, MOAS received The Geuzen Medal.[11]

Operation

MOAS’ operational team arrived in Bangladesh on 3 September 2017 and immediately conducted an in-depth needs assessment of the unfolding humanitarian crisis. Recognising the desperate need for food among recent arrivals, on 1 October 2017 MOAS' ship, the M/Y Phoenix, completed the first of two aid deliveries, transporting a total of 40 tonnes of rations. MOAS has established two ‘Aid Stations’, health centres where Rohingya refugees can receive primary medical care and where the host Bangladeshi community can access emergency services. The first Aid Station was launched on 14 October 2017 in the fishing community of Shamlapur, close to where refugees were arriving by sea, while the second was opened on 10 November 2017 to serve the remote refugee settlement of Unchiprang.

Missions

2014 mission in the Central Mediterranean

The Migration Offshore Aid Station inaugurated its first twenty-day mission on Monday 25 August 2014. It set sail from Malta’s Grand Harbour at around noon after a press conference held at the Birgu Marina. In the evening, as it returned close to Malta to pick up some equipment, the Phoenix came about a very worried Maltese fisherman whose boat was drifting off Delimara (close to Marsaxlokk) after its engine failed. The man managed to attract the attention of the MOAS crew by waving. The three-metre boat was tied up alongside the Phoenix until help was called.[12]

MOAS organised its first migrant rescue on 30 August when it assisted a group of 250 Syrians and Palestinians, including 40 children. On the same day, the Phoenix also assisted some 96 Sub-Saharan migrants from a rubber dinghy who were transferred onto a merchant ship.[13] On 8 September, the Phoenix conducted two rescues involving almost 700 migrants, including 83 women and children. A two-day old infant was among the people saved.[14]

A day later, another 500 migrants were rescued from two separate vessels, bringing the tally up to 1,500 migrants saved in less than two weeks at sea.[15] MOAS rescued another 1,500 migrants throughout October, bringing the total number of lives saved to 3,000.[16] MOAS launched its crowdfunding effort in October and by 2015 had already raised some $70,000. In February 2015, MOAS made a specific appeal to the maritime industry and mariners who are required to respond to emergencies. It said that seafarers transiting the Mediterranean would be especially affected by the numbers of refugees crossing from Libya to Italy after projects like the Italian mission Mare Nostrum were no longer in operation.

2015 mission in the Central Mediterranean

MOAS continued to operate in the Central Mediterranean Sea between May and September 2015, during which time it assisted almost 9,000 refugees, bringing its total number of lives saved until the end of 2015 to 12,000.

Doctors Without Borders partnered with MOAS from May to September 2015 on board the MY Phoenix where they cared for 6,985 people rescued at sea after rescue by MOAS. The 6 person team included logistics, publicity and medical teams who cared for migrants on board the Phoenix needing treatment for conditions ranging from dehydration to gunshot wounds.[17]

Mission in the Aegean Sea: December 2015 to March 2016

Having received a "tidal wave of support" in donations following the death of Alan Kurdi[18], MOAS expanded its mission to the Aegean Sea between December 2015 and April 2016.[19]

On 2 January, it announced that it has assisted a boat of 39 migrants, 11 of whom were injured by the violent impact on the sharp island rocks. A three-month old infant boy was severely hypothermic and was stabilized.[20] On 12 January 2016, MOAS assisted a vessel of Syrian refugees who had washed ashore on the island of Agathonisi. The group included a two-year-old boy who became the first known migrant casualty that year.[21]

For this mission, MOAS used the Topaz Responder,[22] a 51-meter custom-made emergency response vessel, which hosts two high-speed rescue launches. These smaller rescue vessels are named Alan and Galip, in honour of the Kurdi brothers whose deaths shocked the world in September 2015.

In April 2016, the sharp fall in attempted crossings in the aftermath of the EU-Turkey deal and unfolding mass tragedies in the Central Mediterranean prompted the repositioning of all MOAS assets to the Central Mediterranean.[23]

2016 mission in the Central Mediterranean

MOAS launched its 2016 Central Mediterranean operation on 6 June, rescuing and assisting over 20.000 men, women and children before the close of the year, during which MOAS’ SAR vessels operated in international waters 12-16 nautical miles off the coast of Libya. The 2016 Mission was run in conjunction with operational partners Red Cross Italy, who provided vital medical and psychosocial assistance, cultural mediation, food, clothing and emergency resources to the beneficiaries while they were on board.

2017 mission in the Central Mediterranean

MOAS launched its 2017 Central Mediterranean operation[23] on 1 April aboard the Phoenix and with their own medical team, and supported by a manned aerial asset. Over the Easter Weekend Rescue[24], MOAS’ crew members supervised an estimated 1,500 people overnight.

End of Mediterranean missions

In September 2017, MOAS announced the ending of their missions in the Mediterranean, and their intent to transfer to assisting Myanmar's threatened Rohingya group of Muslims.[25][26]

Start of mission to Myanmar and Bangladesh

MOAS arrived in Bangladesh on 3 September 2017 and immediately conducted an in-depth needs assessment of the unfolding humanitarian crisis. Recognising the desperate need for food among the recent arrivals, on 1 October 2017 the Phoenix completed the first of two aid deliveries, transporting a total of 40 tonnes of rations.

MOAS has established two ‘Aid Stations’, field clinics where Rohingya refugees can receive primary and secondary medical care and where the host Bangladeshi community can access our emergency services. The first Aid Station was launched on 14 October 2017 in the fishing community of Shamlapur, close to where refugees arrive by sea, while the second was opened on 10 November 2017 to serve the remote refugee settlement of Unchiprang.

The Aid Stations offer comprehensive services from triage to pharmacy, with a focus on providing life-saving reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child healthcare Each Station is equipped with a recovery suite, a maternity room, a surgical area, and an ambulance.

Their dedicated team of doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists and logisticians treat up to 300 people every day for a multitude of conditions including trauma, acute respiratory illnesses, severe gastric distress, severe malnutrition and fatigue. Reflecting the huge number of young people living in the refugee camps, over 40% of their patients are children.

Funding

Since 2015, MOAS has been privately funded[27] through the support of the public, grant-making organisations, crowd-funding initiatives, foundations and corporate sponsorship. Operations partners, such as MSF, Red Cross Italy, and the International Federation of the Red Cross, have also been major contributors to MOAS missions. MOAS’ annual reports and financial statements are available on the MOAS website.

In march 2016 the Global Impact network announced to have collected about 1.5 Million USD for MOAS.[28]

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See also

References
  1. 102 Migrants brought to Malta Retrieved 2014-07-12.
  2. Couple Spend Life savings on boat and drones to stop migrant deaths in the Med, Huffington Post. 2014-07-17. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
  3. "Good samaritans launch mission to save migrants in the Mediterranean". The Guardian. 2014-07-16. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
  4. "Meet the American Couple Saving Thousands Trying to Get to Europe". Time. 2014-12-22. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
  5. "Benefactor Couple Fund First Ever Private Migrant Rescue at Sea Mission". The Sunday Times of Malta. 2014-07-13. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  6. "Hurricane Katrina Survivor Now Saves Lives in Mediterranean Sea". NBC News. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  7. "Dead link, 11 July 2017 at ilquotidianoweb.it -see following ref". Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  8. 'Mattarella consegna una onorificenza al merito a Regina Liotta per l'impegno verso gli immigrati' ('Mattarella delivers an award of merit ...for their commitment towards immigrants') at quotidianodelsud.it Accessed 16 April 2017
  9. "Malta awards MOAS the Medal of the Republic - MOAS". 13 December 2015.
  10. "MOAS directors receive the PSI award for civic engagement". Malta Today. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  11. ""Stichting Geuzenverzet 1940-1945"". Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  12. "Maltese Fisherman and His Young Song are First to be Rescued by Privately Funded Migrant Aid Station". Times of Malta. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  13. "MOAS rescue mission saves its first migrants". Times of Malta. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  14. "Sailing to save lives". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  15. "MOAS rescues 1,500 migrants in two weeks". The Maritime Executive. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  16. "MOAS saves 3,000 lives in 60 days". Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS). Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  17. "MSF Medical Team Concludes Work With Migrant Offshore Aid Station in Mediterranean" Archived 1 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. 23 September 2015.
  18. Elgot, Jessica (3 September 2015). "Charity behind migrant-rescue boats sees 15-fold rise in donations in 24 hours" – via The Guardian.
  19. "MOAS saves and assists 1,633 people in the aegean sea over the last three months in a period of increasing refugee traffic and political pressure" at moas.eu Accessed 11.07.2017
  20. "Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) rescues shipwrecked Syrians on Greek island of Agathonisi - MOAS". 2 January 2016.
  21. "Toddler becomes first casualty of refugee crisis in 2016 – CatholicHerald.co.uk" Archived 10 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
  22. "Vessel Details, Topaz Responder". MarineTraffic. MarineTraffic.com. 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016. Length Overall x Breadth Extreme: 50.9m × 13m
  23. "MOAS launches 2017 maritime search and rescue mission with phoenix and maritime patrol aircraft" at moas.eu Accessed 11.07.2017
  24. "Easter weekend 2017: a mass tragedy avoided", at moas.eu Accessed 11 July 2017
  25. "Migrant aid group MOAS quits rescue operation in the Mediterranean", 5 September 2017, at thelocal.it Accessed 1 October 2017
  26. "Ship that saved migrants from Mediterranean dispatched to Asia on Rohingya refugee rescue mission" 5 September 2017 at independent.co.uk Accessed 18 October 2017
  27. "About" at moas.eu Accessed 11.07.2017
  28. "Search and Rescue Charity Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) Surpasses $1.5 Million Mark in US Donations through Partnership with Global Impact". csrwire.com. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
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