About Us

Every Life Matters

Open Arms United with Yachting (OAUY) is a non-governmental and non-profit organisation that aims to raise awareness within the Superyacht industry of the humanitarian crisis and unprecedented numbers of deaths in the Mediterranean from migrant boats attempting to reach Europe. We are exclusively supporting a subdivision of the Barcelona-based NGO Open Arms. Open Arms focuses on sea rescue to save the lives of people in international waters who are fleeing from war, prosecution, and poverty.

We are in the midst of

A Humanitarian Crisis

Every year, tens of thousands of men, women, and children risk their lives at sea attempting to reach the EU from the coasts of Turkey and Africa.

Many perish or go missing in the Mediterranean and on the northwest African routes without a trace. Between January and June 2022, on average, five people died per day during their attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea, according to the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), and more than 28,000 people have been recorded missing since 2014.

This is most likely an underestimate, as many cases go unreported or even completely unnoticed.

People Are Fleeing

To Save Their Lives—They Have No Other Choice

Towards the end of 2015 and the first three months of 2016, Lesbos and other Greek islands were the main entry point for over 900,000 refugees who reached Europe at that time. After the agreement between the European Union and Turkey in March 2016, the refugees who reached the Aegean Islands would be deported to Turkey and consequently, the entrance point to Europe from there was closed.