Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/560195
14 'HUMAN rights' are a notoriously elusive concept in contemporary politics. On paper, the European Union has a moral and legal obli- gation to save lives at sea, and also to offer asylum (where applicable) to refugees from war-torn and famine-ridden countries. But with the death toll associated with irregular migration skyrocket- ing in the Mediterranean in recent years, the transition from 'legal obli- gation' to 'action' has been both slow and contentious. It was in part to redress this inac- tion that a young American citizen – Chris Catrambone, originally from New Orleans but a resident in Malta these past eight years – together with his wife Regina, launched the Mi- grant Offshore Aid Station in 2013. Operating a 40-metre vessel named 'Phoenix', MOAS has (by its found- er's estimate) rescued approximately 10,000 in the last two years. The figure is impressive in more ways than just the obvious (as Cat- rambone would later put it, "That's 10,000 people who are alive in this world today because we intervened.") It also indirectly underscores the gravity and complexity of the migra- tion phenomenon itself. The sheer numbers now involved in the perilous crossing to Europe from Africa point towards a colossal failure of the world economic model: it is as though Africa – a continent of untold millions of people, and rich in natural resources – is being aban- doned in droves. Chris Catrambone seems to be better positioned than most to ap- preciate this reality. Before moving to Malta in 2008, his line of business took him to several remote war-torn parts of the world: including Afghan- istan, Iraq and several African coun- tries. It was in such places, he tells me when we meet at his Valletta office, that the idea to 'do something' first took root… even if the direct inspira- tion came later, in the form of a di- rect appeal by Pope Francis in 2013. "I guess that if you had to talk about my life, it's sort of a rags-to-riches story," the 34-year-old entrepre- neur begins. "I didn't grow up with money or luxury; I built everything I have from scratch, through hard work and dedication. At some point you do start seeing yourself as get- ting caught up in the money side of things. It's like hubris, to an extent. I've seen it happening to a lot of peo- ple: you start making the pursuit of money an end in itself…" The Pope's intervention, he adds, got him thinking at the time. "I'm the type who looks for signs in my life: signs to guide me. That moment in 2013 was a sign for us. Has this wealth truly given us happiness? Has it given us the satisfaction that we are 'good citizens', that are we doing the right thing…?" He was particularly struck, he adds, by Pope Francis's description of 'the globalisation of indifference'. "Look back at history, and you will see how people have always ignored the suffering of others. But there's always been this point where people later look back and ask: why did we ignore that? Why did we ignore the Holocaust, for instance? Why did we look the other way, while Jews were being exterminated in Nazi Germany and other occupied countries? The world knew about it, but we ignored it at the time…" The sensation that this pattern was 'repeating itself' today began to dawn on him while working in some of the world's most war-torn regions. "A lot of people think: oh, Chris Cat- rambone, he was a contractor in all those countries. That's not entirely true. My job was to establish medi- cal facilities in conflict zones. I was hired to go to places where nobody knew what to do: for example, some- one got injured in a remote African country, and needed help. We [The Tangiers Group] had been there be- fore, we knew the hospitals, we knew the doctors. We could arrange air ambulances, and so on…" As a result, he got a glimpse of the conditions many of the people cur- rently fleeing Africa – and other parts of the world, such as Syria or Afghanistan – are running away from. But Catrambone didn't have to go all the way to central Africa to understand this: one pivotal inci- dent which changed his outlook took place in New Orleans, in his own home state of Louisiana. "I don't think I'd be here at all if it wasn't for Hurricane Katryna [in 2005]," he adds. "I was very happy in New Orleans. I had a wonderful life there. But that life was taken away from me because of a natural disas- ter. My home was condemned, and all my friends left for similar reasons. I was, to a certain extent, a 'refugee' myself… or at least, a displaced per- son… in the United States. A lot of people were in that predicament: we call them 'Katryna refugees'. Peo- ple are still struggling to this day because of Hurricane Katryna. The culture of the place – the wonderful, vibrant integration that existed there – it was all washed away, so to speak. It's painful to lose the ability to live in the place that you love. I can see that same experience in the eyes of the Syrian refugees we have rescued on our boat: educated people, for in- stance, who just couldn't live there any more…" The aftermath of Katryna also brought home the disparity between people caught up in similar situa- tions in different parts of the world. "All people everywhere have a right to seek refuge in another country; it is a right conferred by the Charter of Human Rights. The Syrian or Afri- can refugee coming to Europe, and myself in 2005: we are all entitled to the same rights. The only difference is that I was born with a magic pass- port: that beautiful, blue American passport which means I can travel anywhere I choose, because we're one of the biggest powers in the world..." The inspiration for MOAS came from a combination of all these fac- tors. "The experience of seeing for myself the horror of conflict zones; and then, going out on a chartered yacht in the Mediterranean with my family, and seeing the same devasta- tion there, too… life-jackets floating in the water, bodies washing up on the shore… and then hearing stories told by people like Captain Marco Cauchi about the things he has seen in 26 years of conducting rescues for the AFM…" Here he breaks off to pay a small tribute to 'one of Malta's unsung he- roes'. "Captain Cauchi is a real hero in my books. He's been involved in migration from day one; few people know more about the issue than he does. One of the recollections Cauchi once shared with me concerned a time when he attempted to rescue a pregnant woman who had fallen into the water off a boat. "He dived in after here, but she sank so fast – not being able to swim – that he couldn't reach her in time. He told me that every night, he re- members those eyes sinking down- Interview By Raphael Vassallo maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 AUGUST 2015 Migration needs to be PHOTO JASON FLORIO/MOAS