Yesterday, the AFM brought 83 weary people, including women and children, to shore after rescuing them from the high seas. They arrived in the blistering heat of the afternoon and disembarked at Hay Wharf to be processed and given care before they begin the asylum screening process.

Theirs was a tale of survival. After spending some three days at sea, they were brought to Malta... perhaps not their chosen destination, but they still made it to the promised land of Europe. Many of them will spend months in detention, and most will eventually be given asylum status. Some will stay here of their own volition, others will leave for the continental mainland under their own steam and others will make use of resettlement programmes.

But on the flipside, there was also a tale of death yesterday. A vessel which was taking on water some 68 miles off Lampedusa requested assistance on Saturday. Italian and Maltese vessels made their way to the scene, and it turned out that 19 people lost their lives on that boat. They did not drown and they were not shot. They were crushed to death and suffocated by the sheer weight of numbers of people crammed into the hold of the rickets and unseaworthy vessel. The Italians took the survivors, and the AFM brought back the dead.

They are now just memories, another statistic in this nightmare that engulfs the Mediterranean Sea.

Just as the cruise boats were heading out for their summer parties in Comino, carrying revellers out for a day at sea, an AFM vessel brought the cadavers in and unloaded them at the Maritime Squadron’s Headquarters.

While everyone should feel sorrow, we must also spare thoughts for the Armed Forces personnel who deal with trauma summer after summer as they rescue the barely living, pull people from the water and then also have to deal with ethically transporting the dead bodies of random African people they have never met back for a decent burial.

It is a true human tragedy and it continues year after year.

In this same issue, we speak to another survivor. A Syrian surgeon who lost his wife and young daughter in the October 2013 Lampedusa tragedy. He finds it in his heart to forgive those who made mistakes in the rescue operation that saw hundreds die. He is a truly altruistic person. He was speaking in light of the announcement of a private initiative - the Migrant Offshore Aid Station project. The project will see the launching of a ship that will offer help to migrants in distress. A very noble project, and much needed. But where is the help from Europe? Malta has gone beyond fear and xenophobia. It still exists, but the overriding and growing feeling is that people in general are appalled by the profound loss of life in the sea that surrounds us. Hundreds of people are dying every year in the ultimate gamble to flee Africa and seek a better life in Europe. More patrols are needed and more rescue operations are needed. Forget laregely inneffective operations such as Frontex, Malta and the Southern Mediterranean needs a full blown operation that works 24 hours a day and seven days a week to pick up those in distress. If the world could afford to send a huge battle contingent to Libya, then surely, it can spare a tenth of those resources and put them to good use – saving lives in this cruel sea.