Commander Oscar Camps recalls the rescue drama. Finally, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs has made a clear point: Tripoli "is not a safe port".
On a quiet night in the garden il comandante OscaThe tower is attached to the hill that lies in the dark distance. The profile of the Astral veliero is the only geometry that differs from the sinister sequence of failures of the oil rigs and of the nere dune that are infrangono contro la prua. In silence, Commander Oscar scribbles down the letters. Sembra was talking, as if an echo of a request for help could come from every corner.
Comforted by the serene reading of the daily polemics of the day, he opens the door. Then, with a solitary and reserved tone, he utters in Spanish a phrase that in the solitude of the Libyan Sea sounds like a cry: "Pope Francis was the first to break the false narrative about migrants. Without him we will be alone".
Oscar Camps can't really get to know you if you don't take a turn at the helm of the Open Arms. He's already given it to us twice: from 3 to 6 in the evening, the longest, because you'll be asleep and can start the day. But that's all the team can do.
He is the man who has defeated European governments. The naked beast of the cosidetta Coast Guard releases, the nemicus of the Italian searchers who for two years have been searching without finding proof of the Ong-trafficanti legacy. "Sono stato istruito in un collegio cattolico, ma non sono esattamente un praticante", dice di sé. One day a religious leader told him "that if you put your life on the line to save the lives of people you don't know, then in a certain sense you are a practicing Christian".
Camps faced the entrepreneur in the maritime rescue. Finally, when his daughter, in front of the images of the last wave of migrants, did not tell him: "Why don't you go and save her too?". Two years ago she was born Proactiva Open Arms. Emilio Salgari was needed to tell the story of Commander Oscar. Lo sguardo fermo, la voce pastosa che d'improvviso irrompe as un tuono, una vida tra i flutti e il braccio di ferro con la politica. And when they thought that all'ennesima inchiesta, all'ennesima nave bloccata in un porto, sarebbero rimasti senza un salvacondotto per tornare a riguadagnare miglia, "abbiamo raccolto il sostegno di tanti comuni, di molte città, di associazioni, di parrocchie, non solo in Spagna, ma anche in Italia".
In other words, Open Arms has become "a popular response - he says - to the European Union's inaction". Perciò Camps has just left Mediterranea, the Italian observation mission on the Sicilian Channel. From his point of view, this is a political reasoning. Take the Spanish premier Pedro Sanchez: "When the Aquarius ship didn't find a suitable port, Sanchez - recalls Camps - decided to have it approved in Spain, because he understood that it was a popular decision". It is not said that this was a compliment to the Iberian prime minister.
But Commander Oscar knows how these things go. No caso su Astral sono salite personalità note, trai quali di recente il campione di basket Marc Gasol, stella dell'Nba, che almost a word was said to save Josepha, the Cameroonian refugee slandered by the transvestite supremacists of the sovranisti. "Fu uno spavento: avete idea di quale assicurazione ci sia sulle mani di Gasol? Ma lui, da campione, ci rise su, e continuò a salvare", dice Camps. Other personalities from the sporting and cultural sectors have asked to come on board for the next operations. The organization also wanted the Italians Jovanotti and Fedez, "but their managers have told them to be afraid of social hatred," say Ong. Chissà che non ci sia modo e tempo per ripensarci.
The dilemma for rescuers is always this: if there's no one to contact, you're basically more relaxed, because then no one will come. But then, every now and then, news from Libya arrives to shatter the dream. Ieri, finally, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs has made a strong point: Tripoli "is not a safe haven". This isiò che l'Onu e le Ong sostengono da mesi. "Io non riconosco la Guardia Costiera libica - scandisce Camps -. They are wearing unidentifiable uniforms and wearing spiked gloves. They have even sparred. For me, they are neither more nor less than an armed group".
Adding another won't do. And there's no time at all. Commander Oscar opens the binoculars. Si sporge. Vuole che tutte le luci siano spente: "Una volta abbiamo visto un barcone a 500 metri di distanza solo perché un migrante aveva acceso un telefonino". More than a hundred were saved. Perché in fondo non fa mai abbastanza buio se vuoi salvare qualcuno.
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