Lesbos / Emden Irrespective of the European Union's political decisions and regardless of the huge risks involved in crossing the Mediterranean stretch from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos, people are fleeing in the face of war in their devastated homelands and risking their lives in the process. "The intensified border controls are forcing the refugees to take their chances under the cover of darkness. They are in many cases literally left to their own devices, adrift at sea in overcrowded hardshell or inflatable dinghies, and that is a very dangerous situation", reports Carlos Glatz. The young paramedic used his time off to spend two weeks working as volunteer for the non-profit NGO "Sea-Watch" in the port on the east coast of Lesbos. His motivation: "No-one should have to die at sea."

He got the idea from his colleague Ragino Fagner, who had likewise been there. Carlos Glatz works for the Weser-Ems chapter of the Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe humanitarian organization, and his sphere of activity lies in the air rescue operations run by Northern HeliCopter GmbH with their ambulance and offshore rescue helicopters. Both organizations gave him their support for his mission in Greece. "My profession and my training as offshore air rescuer with courses in sea survival and water rescue were an advantage for me", says Carlos Glatz, especially since sea rescue operations in the Mediterranean are not without danger for the helpers either.

The nights at sea are frequently pitch dark. Every evening the motivated "Sea-Watch" team armed with night vision equipment and binoculars sets out with its speedboat and searches along stretches of the Greek coast. "We found an overcrowded boat carrying exhausted and highly traumatized refugees every night during my first week there. Most of them families from Syria, Iraqi Kurds, Yazidis", explains the volunteer helper. "You could see stress and the fear of death etched in their faces, and it was a distressing realization for me that these people had left everything they owned behind them. They come with nothing else but the clothes they are wearing."

On spotting a refugee boat, it is then the team's task to help it reach land safely by guiding it or, if it is unable to manoeuvre, by towing it. In some cases, however, the "Sea-Watchers" have to evacuate the refugees and bring them with the speedboat to the safety of the shore. "Search and rescue", as Carlos Glatz puts it concisely. Once on land, the rescued people are given first aid and then taken to refugee camps by other organizations. "The coordination and cooperation with other associations and organizations there is well organized", says the 24-year-old. And the helpers are well looked after as well, with their board and lodging as well as travel expenses paid for by Sea-Watch.

Turkey's negotiations with the EU states have led to a sharp reduction in the number of refugee boats seen by "Sea-Watch" in the Aegean. Nevertheless, associations and organizations are anticipating that the fleeing people will seek other routes, by sea as well. Carlos Glatz is therefore sure of one thing, namely that he will be going back in summer to provide his voluntary help for the refugees in the Mediterranean.