On April 4, Les Arènes published Le Murmure de la mer, a work by graphic reporter Hippolyte which delves into the heart of humanity. “It is the murmur of these people crossing the Mediterranean; that whisper that we try not to hear, but which is always there. A whisper of infinite beauty, which is made of hope. »
Hippolyte, who joined the Ocean Viking as a reporter in 2021, returns in this video to his approach and “the craziest report of [his] life”, recounted in “Le Murmure de la mer”. He has decided to donate half of his royalties to SOS MEDITERRANEE and will participate in numerous awareness events with the association’s volunteers. He will notably be at the exceptional evening organized on May 23 at La Criée – Marseille national theater as part of the “Oh! sunny days” of which all profits will be donated to the sea rescue association. “A day on board the Ocean Viking is worth €24,000. If I can help just a little bit, I do it as much as I can. »
Hippolyte spent a long time developing this project to create a comic book on the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean. “I have followed the work of SOS MEDITERRANEE since its creation in 2015, after the Mare Nostrum operation launched by the Italian authorities to rescue migrants1. In one year, the Italian authorities had saved 150,000 people at sea. Except that many voices were raised at the time, particularly from the far right. And the operation stopped. »
In 2020 he was due to board the Ocean Viking but the patrol was cancelled, while Covid was still omnipresent: “there are no more planes, there are no more boats, there are no more of transport. Everyone is staying at home and for the first time, Europe is realizing that it cannot travel as it wants. But in the meantime, migrants continue to leave. For six months, there is no one at sea apart from the migrant boats which manage to reach the beaches and bodies which are recovered in Tunisia, in Italy, almost everywhere. »
“It is this cynicism and this horror perpetrated by Europe which has transformed the Mediterranean Sea not into a cemetery, but into a mass grave. »
As soon as the health crisis subsides, the Ocean Viking returns to service. It was then that the Italian authorities blocked the ship at the dock “because it had saved too many lives, which is absolute cynicism. And in fact, that’s what I show in the comic. It is this cynicism and this horror perpetrated by Europe which has transformed the Mediterranean Sea not into a cemetery, but into a mass grave. And the murmur is the murmur of these people crossing the Mediterranean (…). It is also the murmur of the rescuers, of the people who are on board, of the people who are also on land and who are fighting to restore our dignity and restore a little humanity to this world. So, it’s this wall, this Murmur that I tell about in the comic strip Le Murmure de la mer.”
Hippolyte must therefore return home, to Reunion Island, without being able to produce his report. It will only be in 2021 that he will finally be able to embark for a period of two months on “this island of humanity”.
“It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life”
After completing all the training, he carried out his first operation aboard a lifeboat. “In this boat, there are 20 babies! I find myself with one of them in my arms, he is two months old! I am the father of a child myself, so obviously, I think of my son… Then all the other children arrive in the boat, I have to put their life jackets on them, secure them… This baby is very calm and it’s He’s the one who calms me down, while I can’t stop crying! But after a while, as he is separated from his mother, he starts to scream. And I have nothing other than my finger caressing his cheek and going into his mouth… I have that reflex, probably because I’m a dad. And I think it’s one of the most beautiful moments of my life. »
“With love, we can do anything! »
That day, 440 people will be rescued by SOS MEDITERRANEE teams. “As a reporter, I want to get to know people. I tell the big story through the small one.” There he sits next to a man who is holding something preciously in his hand and asks him what it is. “These are jewels for my wife. She is in Italy; she left a year ago. We couldn’t afford the crossing for two, so I paid for her and I stayed in Libya hoping to leave again one day. » The man succeeded. But he lost all trace of his wife. Hippolyte thinks to himself that he has no chance of finding her. “And he looks at me all smiles and says: “With love, we can do anything!” There are not only dramatic stories, there are also beautiful stories. »
Hippolyte “came home totally devastated after this report”, not being able to help but think of the drama that continues at sea and the thousands of deaths, women, men and small babies, the same ones he was around. “And the drama will continue because we are just putting up new walls. In fact, the Mediterranean wall is not an image, it is real. Europe builds walls everywhere to keep people out, but that doesn’t keep them out, it just creates danger and deaths. »
However, if there is one thing that Hippolyte remembers after this experience, it is that “Saving saves us, and that there is nothing more beautiful or more human”.
