As world leaders meet in Valletta for the summit on migration, Moas hopes that saving human lives will guide the discussions. Those horrible images of dead sons, daughters, fathers, mothers should provide the commitment to build a consensus and overcome the divisions that grip the continent.
Granted, there is no easy answer to the world refugee crisis. But we can start with the basic universal principle that we cannot allow human beings to die at our doorsteps while fleeing oppression, poverty or hopelessness.
The sacred value that we assign to human life is precisely what defines us as a civilised society.
Yet this seems to have been somewhat lost in a time when the world is faced with the challenge of the worst refugee crisis since World War II. Back then, the people of Europe migrated to all corners of the world hoping they would find a better life. They experienced much of the same fear and distrust but overcame that to create rich heritages around the world.
Things are grim in Africa and the Middle East and they are not going to get significantly better by next spring. The death toll in the Mediterranean has increased exponentially this year, despite the joint efforts of the European countries, despite the indefatigable work of other NGOs and other civil society initiatives that have taken action to mitigate loss of lives.
The movement of people away from bad things towards better things has overwhelmed Europe and caused mass casualties more typical of a war zone.
About 3,500 people have already died so far in 2015 while trying to reach European shores on unseaworthy boats. Last year, 3,166 people perished.
Since Moas launched its life-saving search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean in 2014, we have managed to rescue almost 12,000 people. While this has been an incredibly rewarding achievement for us, we feel more should be done to address both the root causes and the provision of safe ways for people to escape persecution, warfare or the hopeless life in refugee camps.
We were once those people we are discussing
Harrowing images of lifeless bodies, including a growing number of children, washing up drowned on the beaches of Europe, Libya and Turkey have become a daily grim reality we have sadly grown used to. People are choosing to risk this danger for a chance at a better life.
This December, Moas will be moving our operations into the southeastern Aegean Sea. Once again, we hope to reduce deaths at sea caused by mass migration.
More than 500 people, including many children, are estimated to have drowned already this year trying to reach Greece. Officials leading rescue efforts on the Greek island of Lesbos have recently warned that the death toll in the eastern Aegean Sea is likely to rise in the coming days unless urgent action is taken.
Unfortunately, the humanitarian crisis at sea is not limited to the Mediterranean. Other areas of the world are also affected by a maritime refugee crisis.
In 2016, Moas will also seek to provide search and rescue in the Bay of Bengal to aid the thousands of Rohingya people fleeing Burma and Bangladesh in southeast Asia. Once again, families have been forced on to the seas to flee persecution and seek a better life. Many have been kidnapped, murdered or have perished at sea.
According to the UNHCR, more than 1,100 Bangladeshis and Rohingyas drowned between January 2014 and June 2015 and the number of crossings is expected to increase this year. Once again, the root causes need to be addressed.
As European and African leaders meet in Valletta to address the root causes and, hopefully, reduce the flow of migrants, Moas is expanding its operations due to growing maritime migration. It is funded by the public, which believes that no one deserves to die at sea.
Moas welcomes any actions that can save lives and forge a humanitarian solution to the largest numbers of refuges since World War II. We remind those in Valletta that we were once those people we are discussing.
Regina Catrambone is co-founder of the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (Moas).