‘The idea is to reach shore before anyone drowns’
THE trick, says Francis Mooney, is to drive fast enough to reach the shore before anyone drowns – but slowly enough to avoid spinning off the muddy track onto the rocks below.
Lesbos island is Greek but sits less than 10km from Turkey. Refugees and migrants fleeing war travel by boat to Greece on their way further into Europe, but the flimsy inflatable boats often capsize or even sink.
Volunteers like Francis, John Paul Barber and Jude Bennett from Belfast are among those running rescue services on the island. Almost 400,000 people have landed on these beaches this year alone. A rescue diver back home, Francis dons a wet-suit for his daily work; swimming out to help guide sinking or overladen boats to shore. He said: ‘I spend a lot of time in Bundoran; I’m well used to the cold water. But you see people just freezing here. When I pick a baby out of a boat, that smile is my reward.’ ‘When the waves are rough, they’re coming in over the boat. It gets very heavy and the boat collapses in the centre. The children usually sit there, and it just collapses; they are gone before anyone can do anything.’
John Paul, a former hospital porter, stands at the water’s edge watching for the next boat.
He said quietly: ‘I was prepared for everything – but not emotionally. You cannot be ready for this – they have no shoes; they have nothing when they come. I have to go away on my own a bit, you need to spend time alone to deal with it.’ Jude Bennett is an art curator turned emergency fund-raiser for the crisis, in partnership with singer Joby Fox.
She said: ‘The boat situation changes every day, it’s slowing now a bit because of the winter but that could change.’ Everyone from local Greeks to the refugees themselves is aware the Paris attacks changed how some people view refugees.
‘It is a complex issue but there’s no doubt people need help. Me personally I try not to think about the politics, it can be upsetting especially when you know boats are going down.’
John Paul said: ‘When you see people, you just see they are in need of help.
‘You see really elderly women. I’ve seen a wheelchair folded up in the boat, at the side of the boat. There was a man today, paralysed and they had to lift him off.’
Contact Jude Bennett through: www.refugeerescue.co.uk
‘You cannot be ready for this’