Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/345566
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 JULY 2014 13 And for us, whether it is an NGO, a private entity, a public entity, a state, it doesn't make a difference. We see it from the perspective of that indi- vidual that needs to be saved." This perspective, he argues, re- mains the same no matter who or what organisation looks at it. "In terms of search and rescue operations, I think people speak the same language. It's a standard language: there is a responsibility to save lives. The best way forward here is full co-operation and full co- ordination, and everybody being at the disposal of everybody else. This is what can be done to mitigate loss of life at sea. We are not in the busi- ness of controlling borders, or build- ing wells in Somalia or in Uganda. We are not saying this shouldn't be done. We are not saying that these concerns are not justified. We are not thinking that there shouldn't be a vision, there shouldn't be a plan. What we are simply saying is that that is not our business. Not because we are not interested, what I'm say- ing is that is not what we do. We leave that to others who are more prepared than us, who have more resources than us, to think about all the other issues. We have decided to focus all our resources on this: the sanctity of life, and saving lives at sea." This aim, he adds, can also take far less dramatic forms than active high- emergency operations. "We will also have water, blankets, life-jackets… Maybe our intervention will involve just giving out 20, 30 life-jackets, or giving out water. There is a wide spectrum of things one can do to mitigate loss of life at sea. Jumping in to save someone from drowning is at the far end of the spectrum, so to say." Xuereb speaks with considerable enthusiasm, yet he acknowledges that enthusiasm, on its own, is not enough. Such operations require massive funding, which at present comes only from the commercial interests of the people who funded MOAS in the first place. "MOAS is for the time being completely privately funded. We hope this will change. The found- ers have sown the seed… but if this thing is going to continue and be exported elsewhere… because this type of problem is not only at sea. It's not only in the Mediterreanean. It's happening in the Caribbean, in Australia. So we want to sow the seed, and we want others to take it up. We want others to support our initiative. I also have to launch an appeal and say, listen: if this thing is going to grow, if there is going to be MOAS 2, there needs to be support. We hope that in the future there will not just be MOAS 2, but MOAS 50... We hope that instead of 'Migrant Offshore Aid Station', it will also be 'Migrant Onland Aid Station'. It's a pilot project: we have a lot of plans, but we are also realistic. Earlier I said we want to crawl, walk and run. It doesn't mean that at the crawling stage we don't think about the days when we can run wild. But at the moment, we want to think about the here and now." Interview The former AFM Commander, Brigadier Martin Xuereb now heads the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS): an NGO providing life-saving services at sea. He talks about the challenges posed by the unprecedented level of such emergencies in the Mediterranean die at sea PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD