Donations Help MOAS Save Thousands of Lives

Donations from private citizens around the world have been rapidly increasing throughout the last 24-hour period with over 2500 individuals making a contribution to the cause. Having raised approximately €50,000 from Paypal donations over the last 2 years the platform has registered over €180,000 since Wednesday morning.

MOAS, (Migrant Offfshore Aid Station) a registered charity who has saved over 11,000 men women and children from unseaworthy vessels in the Mediterranean in the last 12 months, has been overwhelmed by this latest response, with most of the donations coming from the USA, UK and Turkey.

By the end of 2015, as many as 30,000 lives may have been lost in the Mediterranean, ‘the world’s deadliest migrant crossing’ according to IOM. In July and August 2015 alone, an estimated 900 have died from drowning, asphyxia and dehydration in the Central Mediterranean region. MOAS was set up to mitigate this loss of life and rescue those in peril using a 40 meters vessel, two RHIBS, extensive UAVcapabilities and a specialist search and rescue team. All money raised goes toward keeping MOAS out at sea beyond October and reducing deaths at Europe’s doorstep.

MOAS Director Martin Xuereb says: “In 2013 Pope Francis called citizens to action to combat what he referred to as the ‘Globalization of Indifference’. MOAS took up the challenge and we are proving, every day, that the people of the world are not indifferent to the suffering of their fellow human beings. Together, we are standing up to this indifference because we do not want to by bystanders whilst people die at sea. We are humbled by the scale of donations we have seen yesterday and throughout the night- every donation will make a difference to our operations as we strive to prevent further deaths in the Mediterranean”.

MOAS has seen a rise in recorded deaths in the Mediterranean in past weeks, despite the tireless efforts of those conducting search and rescue operations at sea, and is calling for global solidarity and collective action to help mitigate these losses.

To contribute to MOAS and its work please visit our website at www.moas.eu and click on ‘donate’.

Read more http://www.moas.eu/tragedies-at-sea-moas-urges-collective-action-to-stop-deaths/