Òscar Camps: "How is it possible that the need to save a life is still a subject for debate in the twenty-first century?"

Òscar Camps Gausachs (born Barcelona, 1963), a human rights advocate, social activist and founder of the NGO Proactiva Open Arms, was granted a doctorate honoris causa by the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) in the University's Aula Magna this afternoon, in a ceremony which was attended by more than 200 people, including the Senate of Doctors and other members of the university community, and the new doctor's relatives, friends and colleagues. The ceremony was presided over by the rector of UVic-UCC Josep Eladi Baños and the Minister of Health of the Government of Catalonia, Josep M. Argimon, and was attended by the deputy mayor of Vic City Council and the member of the Board of Trustees of the Balmes University Foundation Josep Arimany, and the general secretary of UVic-UCC Anna Sabata. The event was part of the celebrations to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of UVic-UCC.

Camps began his speech of thanks for the doctorate he was receiving by reviewing the various actions that the NGO Open Arms has performed to help the most vulnerable populations in different countries and in different circumstances. On this point, he said that "our small NGO is only trying to fill the void that our political representatives and our governments have left behind." Camps recalled that "we are at a critical point in the history of humanity," with 53 ongoing conflicts on the planet, and with the Mediterranean Sea becoming a mass grave. "We cannot deny that the Third World War has begun, and this time it is a war on human rights," he argued, while also referring to the recent incident at the Spanish border fence in the city of Melilla, in which dozens of people died.

The new doctor honoris causa used the ceremony in his honour as an excuse to "stress the alliance between knowledge and action, between the academic world and the advocates of human rights who work on the ground every day" which he said "takes on a profound meaning due to having a real impact on our society. While he is aware that the NGO he leads has made some people uncomfortable, and that its work has often been criticised and criminalised, the new doctor asked: "how is it possible that the need to save a life is still a subject for debate in the twenty-first century?"

He then added that "we have a long way to go as a society," and stressed that it is necessary to "train the new generations in critical skills, and give them the vision of a fairer and more equal society." In this respect, he called on the University to maintain a commitment "to an educational model based on empathy, on fraternity, on an ethic that considers information and knowledge as valuable, but which also defends the value of a human life above everything else." Camps concluded his speech by saying: "Thank you for standing with us. We need all areas of society to be united in this effort."

On the side of humanity

The investiture of Óscar Camps as a new doctor honoris causa came about after a proposal made in 2019 by a group of people in the UVic-UCC educational community led by the Doctoral School. Antoni Tort, the director of the UVic-UCC Doctoral School, sponsored the new doctor on their behalf, and explained the reasons why they proposed that the University's highest honour should be conferred on the NGO Open Arms and its director. Tort pointed out that although becoming a member of the university's Senate of Doctors entails an acceptance of certain principles, in this case "it is the University that is making unavoidable commitments by conferring the doctorate on Òscar Camps, who is an uncomfortable and disruptive individual for the prevailing status quo." Tort maintained that "it is the UVic-UCC that acknowledges that it finds the reality of a world that is too often inhumane for human beings to be a challenge."

Ester Busquets, a lecturer in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Welfare and the Coordinator of Training and Research of the Fundació Grífols-UVic-UCC Bioethics Chair, gave the laudatory speech for Dr Òscar Camps, which began with an off-stage reading of the poem "Podries" by Joana Raspall, which was set to music by Joan Dausà. Busquets argued that the university and social activism are united by the same commitment: caring for society, "which inevitably involves respecting and fostering human rights." After listing the many merits of the new doctor and the NGO he represents, Busquets reviewed the refugee crises that have arisen since 2014 - a crisis she described as "the greatest humanitarian catastrophe since the Second World War," especially in the Mediterranean Sea, where it is estimated that more than 20,000 people have lost their lives or disappeared in their attempts to reach Europe since 2015.

During her laudatory speech, Busquets recalled Camps' first mission in the Aegean Sea, where Open Arms worked until 2016, and other upheavals that it subsequently experienced as a result of European migration policy. She also highlighted the numerous projects that the NGO has carried out related to the Covid-19 health emergency and its assistance for the civilian population in Ukraine. The speaker thanked Camps for all his work and for having open arms to "save humanity from so much indignity."

A person of strong convictions

The rector of the UVic-UCC, Josep Eladi Baños said that conferring this doctorate on Òscar Camps "is a moral obligation for our university, in view of our duty as human beings to respect life, and in view of the danger involved in going out to sea in search of boats adrift, full of people on the brink of despair. “Our well-being, our everyday happiness, and our search for goals for improvement and social progress must not be an obstacle which mean we are no longer people," said Baños, "and that is the message we want our students to understand when we confer this doctorate honoris causa on Óscar Camps." The rector pointed out that the recipient "is a role model," and that with today's ceremony the University "accepts the values and the example of a life committed to the neediest as its own." As the highest academic authority, Baños awarded Òscar Camps the medal that distinguishes him as a doctor honoris causa, which was created by the sculptor Emili Armengol. He was also presented with an original work by the artist Jo Milne, who created the "O" was the decorated initial capital letter of his doctoral certificate.

The Catalan Health Minister Josep Maria Argimon pointed out in his speech that the doctorate honoris causa for Camps, his personal friend, is "a well-deserved recognition of the work that Open Arms does," and said that it is necessary to continue to condemn tragedies like the one that took place in Melilla, as "there are dozens of conflicts in the world that go unnoticed, and the wealthy countries are unable to help people who are suffering."

Josep Arimany, deputy mayor and councillor for the University and City of Knowledge of Vic City Council, and the head of the Balmes University Foundation, congratulated the recipient of the doctorate, emphasising his human quality and the values that define him. Arimany described Camps as "an exceptional person of great conviction, with great integrity, empathy and altruism," who decided to take action when faced with situations of human need, from the standpoint of modesty, honesty and humility. The general secretary of UVic-UCC Anna Sabata began the ceremony by reading the agreements of the Governing Council of the UVic-UCC and the Board of Trustees of the Balmes University Foundation regarding conferring a doctorate honoris causa on Óscar Camps Gausachs.

The ceremony included a few words from the UVic-UCC alumni Jan Mompin and Òscar Grau, who interviewed Òscar Camps while they were doing their bachelor's degree final project on emigration in the Mediterranean. Several pieces of music were also performed during the ceremony by the vocal group consisting of Ferran Albrich, Judit Muñoz, Ainhoa Aguilar and Carles Prat, and the event ended with the singing of the university anthem Gaudeamus igitur. The UVic "castellers" group Emboirats subsequently created a human tower in honour of the new doctor.

The programme of the ceremony to award Óscar Camps Fields Gausachs the doctorate honoris causa can be seen via this link.