By Robert A. Emmanuel
The captain involved in last week’s rescue of 16 persons aboard the capsized La Belle Michelle II continues to go beyond the call of duty by starting a JustGiving page to help the African migrants stranded in Antigua.
Captain Thomas Auckland and the crew of the luxury vessel S/Y Genevieve began the page with the aim of providing the hundreds of Cameroonians currently in Antigua with basic housing, food and sanitation.
The page has a target of £15,000 – around US$18,700 – with £2,350 already raised as of yesterday.
“Now is the time we can all play a part in ensuring their lives in Antigua are safe. That despite having only the clothes on their backs, they are provided the right to basic sanitation, housing, food and water. They do not need to live in fear anymore, together we can help them,” the JustGiving text reads.
Last week, Captain Auckland spoke exclusively with Observer about the disaster in which he and his crew rescued 16 persons from the vessel. A further three bodies were recovered while 13 others are still missing and presumed dead.
The Africans were being smuggled from Antigua to St Thomas, USVI, in hopes of reaching the US mainland, but only made it as far as St Kitts as the overcrowded boat could no longer bear the weight of its passengers and the turbulent waters.
“Unlike the night of March 28th, no more innocent people need to be lost on the ocean in search of a new life,” the JustGiving page states.
A personal testimony of that fateful night was also released to Observer by Auckland in which he gave a heart-wrenching account of the details.
“All of the crew, myself included, are still in a stage of processing all that occurred,” the testimony added. “It is affecting everybody in a slightly different way, but knowing that there were 32 people on board and only 16 survived is perhaps the hardest part for us all to comprehend.” Persons interested in donating can do so on: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/helpingcamerooniansinantigua?utm_term=zMD6K4y89
