He told me: ‘Look, we’ve been taking a lot of people from Morocco, they come across the water from Morocco. “I called the Spanish PM from the boat and asked him to take some of these people, and as much as he felt the situation, he was politically constrained because of how much the right were pulling strings in Spain. Gere, who has been engaged in numerous humanitarian causes over the years, began to use his contacts to see if he could get the refugees further help. And there she was, 20 miles from safety but unable to reach the shore.” Of course, these young girls were easy prey, and she had to give herself on every border, she had to give herself to gangs of militias, sexually, to protect her daughters and to take her family to the Mediterranean, where there would be hope and safety. There was a mother with her young daughters who had to navigate the militias trying to make her way to Libya. Then I asked them who they are, where they come from. “We were a lifeline to a world of non-torture, of possibilities and dreams. We brought water and food, and maybe a sense of hope. To them, I was just a worker guy who brought some food and did his best to smile and be kind. Most of them didn’t know me or who I was. Accompanied by an interpreter, he spoke to almost every person on the ship. Gere and the others immediately distributed food to the migrants. After an hour on rough seas, they reached the vessel. With the boat packed with supplies – so many that Gere and the others sat on top of the provisions – the team set off. The situation on Open Arms was growing increasingly dire by the hour. His boat was small, but there was no time to waste. We had the food, but we didn’t have the boat to get the food out to these people.”įinally, an islander recognised the actor and offered to help. “He was told by the police that they’d destroy his business and that he’d end up in jail if he helped us. Gere: ‘We were a lifeline to a world of non-torture, of possibilities and dreams.’ Photograph: Francisco Gentico/Open Arms The Italian authorities would not allow any boats to get close to Open Arms, which was still at sea. When he arrived in Lampedusa from Sicily, Gere and other volunteers from the NGO bought food and water supplies. The final leg of getting to the rescue ship was far from straightforward. He put the holiday on hold to fly to Sicily with his son and on 9 August, with a tiny boat packed with supplies of food and water, the Hollywood star made it to the Open Arms vessel. “‘You’ve gotta be kidding me! This is not possible!’ I mean, in deeply Christian Italy, how could this happen? It’s criminal to help people in need? It was mind-boggling to me.” He said: ‘It’s going to be a criminal offence to help people in distress.’ “I was visiting a friend that summer who asked me if I was aware of this new law in Italy, so I asked him to explain it to me. Gere’s journey to the boat began with a holiday in Tuscany. The blocking of the Spanish tugboat Open Arms became one of the most notorious consequences of Salvini’s recently introduced security decree that aimed to put an end to NGO rescue missions in the central Mediterranean by imposing fines of up to €50,000 (£42,700) for boats that brought migrants to Italy without permission. Magistrates consider Gere, who was on the boat but neither a refugee or member of the crew, an objective observer who can lend credence to what they have described as an “explosive situation aboard” with asylum seekers forced to remain on deck for 19 days without receiving medical attention before eventually being allowed to disembark. A date has not yet been set for the testimony. The judge, Roberto Murgia, has allowed Gere’s testimony after the actor said he was willing to testify on behalf of the refugees. The trial of Salvini over the incident, for which he faces a maximum of 15 years’ jail if convicted on charges of kidnapping and dereliction of duty, began in Palermo last month. Richard Gere: ‘I mean, in deeply Christian Italy, how could this happen? It’s criminal to help people in need? It was mind-boggling to me.’ Photograph: Francisco Gentico/Open Arms
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