The BBCSixth form students say they want to help save migrants at sea after being outraged by the death toll.
Robin Jenkins, head of the charity based at Atlantic College in St Donuts, Vale of Glamorgan, was involved in the mission to rescue 32 people, including a baby and three unaccompanied minors, from a rubber boat. .
Mr Jenkins said students from around the world came to the college to take a course teaching skills such as repairing inflatable boats so they could help out.
The Home Office has pledged to “stop at nothing” to crack down on people-smuggling gangs who make the crossing on small boats.
Mr Jenkins said the Mediterranean was “full of skeletons and it’s a terrible situation”, while 2024 was also the deadliest for deaths in the English Channel.
The independent sixth form college has students from 60 countries, and Mr Jenkins said: “There are young people in the Mediterranean who have seen this horrific story unfold on television and said ‘No more, I can’t watch this. , must be involved in”.
“Students here are angry and coming from all over the world, some students here may have experienced these horrors themselves, or are closely connected.”
More than 147,000 people have come to the UK on small boats since 2018.
Addressing the issue has been a major focus of successive governments, and current Prime Minister Keir Starmer has expressed this commitment. To employ counter-terrorism strategies Stopping people-smuggling gangs “before they act.”
The Central Mediterranean is the main migrant route to the European Union and has been called the most dangerous route in the world.
A total of 1,983 deaths linked to this route have been recorded this year by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Mr Jenkins said many people were fleeing war, oppression and poverty.
He added: “The misinformation that’s surrounding the whole thing is part of the problem, they’re told it’s going to be easy.
“They are told it will be safe, they are told Europe is waiting for them with open arms, and they are often extorted.”
Atlantic Pacific International Rescue, based at Atlantic College, provides lifeboats, personnel and training programs.
“Not only are people in distress when you rescue them, they’ve come from a long journey of suffering, exploitation and torture,” Mr Jenkins added.
In the 1960s, students at Atlantic College invented the rigid-hull inflatable boat or RIB design.
With its solid bottom and flexible sides, the RIB has become a cornerstone of modern boating, used for recreation, by the military and vital in lifesaving.
The college sold the rights to the RNLI for £1 but the legacy lives on.
Students Lucy and Kate repair an inflatable RIB as part of their training on the Atlantic-Pacific course.
Lucy said: “It’s a big problem, and the more global warming goes on, the bigger the problem of migration is going to be.
“Drowning is the world’s third leading killer.”
As part of the course, students learn to build, operate and maintain boats, and are introduced to marine rescue.
Finley and Efa are also taking part in the training.
Finlay said: “There is a huge refugee crisis in the Mediterranean at the moment where many people are drowning because they are cramped on small boats.
“Boats go down and there aren’t enough resources to help these people effectively.”
Ifa said: “Migrations are on the rise around the world, and obviously lifeboats play a huge role in saving lives and I wanted to learn more about that because it’s so important in the world now. thing.”
On September 3, a boat carrying dozens of people capsized off the coast of France, including six children and a pregnant woman among the 12 people on board.
A month later, four people, including a two-year-old boy, died after apparently being “run over” on two separate boats.
According to the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, 54 migrants have drowned in the English Channel so far this year.
Theo Tran, 23, is a trainer with the charity, and has been involved in rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea.
He grew up in Vietnam before moving to the UK at 15 and attending college, and said helping the refugee crisis was always “the end goal”.
“Even though you’re tired and you’re in shock, you feel a certain pride in what you do, because you know you’re doing the right thing, as hard as it can be out there. “, he added.
A Home Office spokesman said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which put lives at risk and undermine our border security.
“People-trafficking gangs don’t care whether the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay.”