According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, nearly 5 million Ukrainians have been forced to leave their country, most spread across Europe, including 1.2 million in Poland. More broadly, crises of all kinds – drought, disease, and of course conflict – have forced 84 million people around the world from their homes.
In these migrations, all the means are good to cross the borders, including the frail boats at sea, which always make many victims. According to the United Nations, 3,300 people were declared dead or missing at sea in 2021. But according to associations like Voluntary Pilots, this figure is largely underestimated. This association, created by José Benavente, has been flying over the seas by plane for 4 years to spot boats in distress, before it is too late.
“Very often we find ourselves spotting extremely precarious boats, which are absolutely not suitable for any crossing whatsoever, let alone the high seas. perish if they are not spotted and rescued quickly.”
José Benavente, founder of the Voluntary Pilots associationat franceinfo
The crossing is only the tip of the iceberg, since the horror of the journey is everywhere: after having often fled conflicts, persecutions and famines in their countries of origin, the refugees are victims of attacks, which target especially women. Claudy Rio, refugee guide at Aviation sans frontières, shares the memory of one of her missions:
“Once, I arrived in Entebbe, Uganda, to take care of a fifteen and a half year old child, and another two year old. I thought it was two sisters but, once there, I realized very quickly that it was a mother and her son. They had fled Sudan. She pursues : I didn’t know her real story, but I couldn’t help but think that it was not a child that she had wanted, and we obviously think the worst.
Thus, more than 5,000 refugees have been accompanied by volunteers, most of them from Air France cabin crew, who are trained to listen to passengers and have good first aid skills.