Refugee Rescue is a charitable Non-Governmental Organisation based in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

which operates the rescue vessel '' Mo Chara'' from the North Shore of

Lesvos Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece. It is separated from Asia Minor by the nar ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, covering parts of the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...

. It also fulfills a coastguard role along that coast.

History

Refugee Rescue was founded in 2015, by Joby Fox and Jude Bennett; the charity moved rapidly on from an initial coastguard-like role to purchasing and operating an inshore rescue boat. Refugee Rescue's rescuer and activist Mary Finn was featured in the documentary "Bigger than us", drawing attention to the problems of people-trafficking and refugees.

Rescue vessel

Refugee Rescue operates the ''Mo Chara'' (meaning 'my friend' in Irish), a 7.4 m ex-

RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

Atlantic 75 Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB). The boat operations began in early 2016, and were paused in August 2020. As of April 2021, ''Mo Chara'' operates in conjunction with the German search and rescue NGO Sea-Eye and their rescue ship ''Sea-Eye 4''. In early 2023, the NGO announced a formal partnership with Sea-Eye; at this date Refugee Rescue had rescued over 16,000 people since 2015.

References

{{Reflist Sea rescue organizations European migrant crisis Immigrant rights activism Humanitarian aid organizations in Europe Refugee aid organizations in Europe