It was recorded as one of the most heartbreaking moments of an unprecedented migration crisis on the Spanish coasts.
More than 8. 000 irregular immigrants, including 1. 500 minors, arrived between Monday and Tuesday in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from the neighboring country, Morocco.
This is a figure A record that goes far beyond statistics.
The images showed young people arriving swimming at the Tarajal beach in Ceuta.
There, Spanish security agents and Red Cross volunteers were waiting for them.
In the midst of a chaotic moment, you could see that one of the immigrants was desperate, crying inconsolably.
A soldier and a young woman from the humanitarian aid organization tried to calm him down. But minutes later it was she who assumed his care, she took him to some large stones, where she sat him down and began to give him water.
There the cameras captured a photo that has become iconic: the moving hug between the young sub-Saharan and the volunteer Luna Reyes .
“I was desperate, the act of hugging me was like his lifesaver for him “, Reyes said in an interview with the Spanish television channel RTVE .
For the young of 33 years, providing help to immigrants who arrive fleeing their countries for different reasons is what “everyone would have to do.”
“Do not throw them out, but listen to them, comfort them, give them a blanket, food, water and give them what they need. ”
“ One of the youngest ”
Isabel Brasero, spokesperson for the Ceuta Red Cross, told BBC Mundo that Reyes was part of the operation that had been activated on the beach to help immigrants who came out of the water, after traveling several kilometers.
“This person came crying because they had just told him that a friend, with whom he had made the journey, had died. Then she found out that it hadn’t been like that. ”
“ Faced with so much desolation, the first thing she did was hug the first person she met, which in this case was Luna, ”says Brasero.
In these types of operations, the Red Cross provides health care and humanitarian “to anyone who arrives.”
“We verify that he does not have ailments that are affecting him and, later, we begin with humanitarian aid, which is to give him water, food, clothing, blankets, everything that can cover his basic needs “.
“Luna is one of the youngest, she understands very well what was happening, because she has time doing this type of work. ”
“ It is very emotional because, as much as we are used to this being our t I work and see many dramas of different characteristics in all the people we serve over the years, that does not mean that we have feelings. ”
And it is that the television images they show how Reyes strives to help the immigrant, hugs and caresses him. He sitting on a rock, she in front of him, kneeling.
“It is very difficult that you do not empathize with the person, it is very difficult that after making an assist of that type you go to your home, click and log out. That is impossible “, indicates the spokesperson.
But in addition to that strong emotional charge, when Reyes arrived home he found another situation that also affected her.
“Quite dejected”
The image that began to circulate on the internet and the media attracted so much praise as questioning.
Reyes was attacked to such an extent that she had to close her social media accounts.
understand how to do the job well, without also receiving anything in return because she is a volunteer, she receives criticism and insults “, indicates Brasero.
“Okay, you don’t agree with certain ways of working, but you don’t have to go so far as to insult and personal disqualification.”
“The criticisms come from many people, who tell you about everything . It is not that they are groups as such, but there are people who think that what Luna has done is not right. There are criticisms of all kinds, macho, racist. ”
“ She is quite dejected, sad, endless feelings because after she She has done her job to the best of her ability, contributing that dose of humanity that the Red Cross carries in its genes, after doing all that work with all her heart, she receives all those criticisms, you can imagine, she is quite desolate. ”
The fact that such a human photo has become a target of criticism is something that “cannot be understood.”
“I understand and the Red Cross understands that there may be opinions for all tastes, because for that there is free opinion, free thought. ”
“But it is hard for us to understand it because the maxim of the Red Cross is to alleviate and Human suffering in any of its forms and this is a clear demonstration of it. ”
However, Reyes has also received a shower of messages, not only from Spain but from different parts of the world, in which admiration, solidarity and support are expressed for his gesture and his work.
“We appreciate all the support we are receiving, it gives us a lot of strength to continue,” says Brasero.
“The Red Cross will always continue working without distinction of race, creed or political sign, under no circumstances will the Red Cross cease to be human or will it cease to support this type of action such as Luna’s.”
“Many other Moons”
Brasero indicates that, although perhaps few photos were captured on that day “because there were We have to work more than get to that, surely if we had dedicated ourselves to looking for images of that type, we would have found many other Moons on that same beach. ”
“Anyone in the same situation, who has a minimum of compassion, empathy, the same thing would have happened to him.”
Melilla and Ceuta are two cities Spanish located in North Africa and bordering Morocco and bordered by the Mediterranean Sea. They are the only land entry point to the EU from this continent.
This makes these cities the target of thousands of migrants every year , many moved for economic reasons and others fleeing armed conflicts or persecution who yearn to obtain refugee status.
Reyes is receiving psychological help due to the negative messages he has received on social networks.
“One does not expect or one does not conceive that after doing that job, you come home and see that on your social networks they are criticizing you for what you have done, when it is a job worthy of praise, when for us it is part of the day to day and we will do it again and Luna, when she recovers, will continue to do it “.
- The African country that controls the largest reserves of a mineral essential for life (and why they are involved in an international conflict)
For this Wednesday, although arrivals continued to be registered, they became punctual, in very small and more distant groups, given the increase in the police presence on the Moroccan side, with access to Ceuta closed, and the constant “rejections at the border” with which they were found as soon as they set foot on Spanish soil.
Many of those who managed to arrive were returned to their countries.
Brasero indicates that he does not know where the boy Reyes helped is, “but we know that he is in good health”.
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