CRISIS: MEDITERRANEAN
We address the most immediate aspects of the crisis only — saving lives. News reports about the ongoing refugee crisis in the Mediterranean have faded, though the crisis is ongoing. Men, women, and children regularly attempt the crossing of the Mediterranean from the cost of Libya to Europe on board overcrowded rafts. The situation remains critical. TF Hawk’s Mediterranean Mission is non-political. Where the refugees ultimately end up is a political question, not a humanitarian one. The key point to understand is that those attempting the crossing cannot survive and make it without assistance.
The instabilities in Libya, with a government in both crisis and transition, dictate that sending refugees from across North Africa back to Libya is not a valid program and makes no sense. For instance, it makes no sense to return a refugee from Somalia to Libya. Refugees coming across the waters of the Mediterranean may not be welcomed by many European countries, as they are overwhelmed with the numbers who have come over the past half decade, but that should not mean that it is somehow beneficial to simply let them sink beneath the waves and die.
Our specific focus has been on working with refugee assistance groups whose programs are designed to save the lives of those who make the attempt. This has included consulting on flight operations principles to major organizations that routinely fly search and rescue missions. In this role, TF Hawk brings extensive experience to the table including from back in its early days when we advised and helped manage four different organizations that flew rescue operations relating to Cuban refugees who were trying to row across 90 miles of open ocean to the Florida Keys – the so-called “Balseros”.
Those interested in learning more about TF Hawk and our life-saving, humanitarian mission in the Mediterranean should contact mediterranean@tfhawk.com.
