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In the past week, almost 9,000 people were rescued on the Mediterranean Sea. Ed Taylor, Medecins Sans Frontieres’ project coordinator onboard the MV Aquarius, relives one such rescue on March 26, 2017. The search and rescue vessel, which has a 21-person crew and is run jointly by MSF and French charity SOS Mediterranee, rescued 515 people in five boats on one day last week.Amid a surge in refugee boats from North Africa, a humanitarian worker describes one grueling day onboard a search and rescue ship on the Mediterranean Sea and his dismay at reactions to such rescues in Europe." (...) It’s easy to question people’s motives from behind a newspaper or a keyboard. This ease is granted by the stability of our nations, but things change and sometimes they change faster than we expect. One day it may be us or our children or our grandchildren running for our lives. If that day comes, I sincerely hope there is someone there to pull us from the water.Having later signed off on the death certificate and report written by the doctor onboard the Aquarius, I now know that the girl who died was called Berte, after her mother. She was 22 years old, and on the day she died, she chose to wear a red, navy and white striped jersey."https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/community/2017/04/21/diary-of-a-rescue-worker-on-the-mediterranean-seaphoto @ High seas batter the side of the MSF-SOS Mediterranee search and rescue vessel MV Aquarius, as refugees and migrants attempt to shelter from the wintry conditions on its decks. December, 29, 2016. Kevin McElvaney/MSF