Pope Francis and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel were both favorites to win the Nobel Peace Prize this week, but another less well-known figure was also in the running. Father Mussie Zerai is a priest from Eritrea, currently living in Switzerland. He has become famous for receiving calls from migrant boats in distress and getting in contact with the Italian and Maltese coastguards to arrange help.
Father Mussie Zerai, a one-man emergency hotline for refugees pleading for help from the world's deadliest migrant route.
Father Mussie is daily involved in saving thousands of lives of refugees every week. and he has been doing this for the past 10 years. He received his first distress call in 2003 from a group of migrants from the war-torn nation of Libya who were trying to gain entrance into Europe and after that group were able to gain entrance into Europe, his number has become public knowledge. People who are stranded at sea make use of satellite phones to send out distress calls to him. His number is now even written on some of the distress rooms where refugees hole up before embarking on these dangerous journeys.
Father Mussie is daily involved in saving thousands of lives of refugees every week. and he has been doing this for the past 10 years. He received his first distress call in 2003 from a group of migrants from the war-torn nation of Libya who were trying to gain entrance into Europe and after that group were able to gain entrance into Europe, his number has become public knowledge. People who are stranded at sea make use of satellite phones to send out distress calls to him. His number is now even written on some of the distress rooms where refugees hole up before embarking on these dangerous journeys.
According to him, he receives about 20 - 50 distress calls daily and sometimes in emergency situations, he may receive as much as a hundred calls. His position is very vital and strategic in the saving of these lives because he acts as a middle man of sorts between the refugees and the Maltese and Italian coast guards collecting and passing across all the necessary information from the migrants to ensure the rescuing of those who are stranded at sea.
Of these distress situations, one stands out to him. In 2011, a group of 72 refugees were stranded in a small boat on the Mediterranean sea. After they reached out to him he tried to make contact to the authorities and nearby coast guards but despite all he did, the refugees remained at sea with no protection from the weather conditions, no food, or water for 15 days (during which time he stayed in contact with them) before they were finally rescued. Only 9 of the 72 survived the horrific incident. That particular case has stayed with these for the past 4 years.
Being a Catholic priest, going up against the pope is an honor of sorts for him, but to this Eritrean super hero, whether he wins it or it goes to the pope, its all in the family.
But as it turns out, It was announced on Friday that the Nobel Peace Prize would go to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet “for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011.”
So what are his thoughts on being nominated for one of the world's best known prizes and the eventual winners?
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