Nearly a decade since the first refugee and migrant bodies were laid to rest in a makeshift burial ground on Lesbos, the island-based organization Earth Medicine has cleaned and redesigned the site after years of neglect. They formally handed it over to municipal officials on Wednesday.
The site’s design was meticulously crafted to offer a dignified resting place for the approximately 200 deceased individuals interred while ensuring a welcoming environment for relatives wishing to visit and honor their memory.
Before Earth Medicine’s intervention, the makeshift graves were overrun with weeds, marked only by numbers scrawled in marker, with few bearing names. Now, the graves are adorned with uniform gray slabs, clearly documenting what is known of the individuals laid to rest below.
Situated 1 km outside the village of Kato Tritos in central Lesvos, the cemetery is the sole burial ground on the island explicitly dedicated to immigrants.
The cemetery is situated approximately one kilometer outside the village of Kato Tritos in central Lesvos, roughly 20 kilometers from Mytilini. While immigrants and refugees have previously been laid to rest in municipal cemeteries in various parts of the island, this particular cemetery is the sole dedicated burial ground specifically for them.
Lesvos has been a key destination for those looking for a better life in the European Union for more than ten years. They leave the Turkish shores crammed into small and dangerous dingies, with many drowning on the way. About 3,800 people have taken this route so far this year alone.
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