Refugee Rescue is a charitable Non-Governmental Organisation based in Northern Ireland[1] which operates the rescue vessel Mo Chara from the North Shore of Lesvos, Greece, covering parts of the Aegean Sea.[2][3] It also fulfills a coastguard role along that coast.[4][5][6]
Refugee Rescue was founded in 2015,[4] by Joby Fox and Jude Bennett; the charity[7] moved rapidly on from an initial coastguard-like role to purchasing and operating an inshore rescue boat.[8][9] 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.[10][11]
Refugee Rescue operates the Mo Chara (meaning 'my friend' in Irish), a 7.4 m ex-RNLI Atlantic 75 Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB).[12] The boat operations began in early 2016, and were paused in August 2020.[2] 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.[13] 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.[14]
The story of how 30 volunteers and one ex-RNLI lifeboat have saved more than 2,500 people on the shores of Lesbos
Registered With the Northern Ireland Charity Commission (NIC): 105156
