Those Buried Nameless in the Earth
Since 2014, more than 1,250 men, women, and children have been buried in unmarked graves in 70 locations across Turkey, Greece, and Italy. All of them wanted to cross the Mediterranean and reach Europe, hoping for a new life.
According to a report by the International Organization for Migration, approximately 8,000 people have lost their lives trying to reach Europe in the past two years.
Most of them drowned at sea. But many bodies have been washed ashore to the beaches of Greece, Italy, and Turkey.
But who are these dead? Where have they been buried? How can their desperate families on the other side of the world know if their loved ones are alive or drowned?
Since 2014, an average of 10 people per day have died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea.
On average, at least one person is buried in an unmarked grave every day.
Faruq’s Story
Faruq’s beard turned white in six months.
It was October 28 when he last spoke to his brother Ghulam.
Ghulam Nabi Pekar is a veterinarian. The Taliban had threatened him. He decided to go to Europe with his wife and three sons and one daughter.
Faruq, Ghulam’s brother who lives in Herat, says that when his brother reached Turkey, he called him. He says they were waiting to board a wooden boat from a smuggler that would take them to Lesbos Island in Greece. He says Ghulam promised to call him again once they arrived.
Ghulam’s family was a drop in the sea of migrants. That same year, more than 500,000 people had attempted to go from Turkey to Lesbos.
When a few hours passed and there was no word from Ghulam, Faruq called the smuggler who was supposed to transport them. The voice on the other end said the boat had capsized.
The smuggler reassured Faruq that most of the passengers had been rescued, and it was better for him to wait for Ghulam’s call. A call that never came.
Shortly after, Faruq saw a photo of his brother—a photo of his brother’s corpse on the shore of Lesbos.
Ten Kilometers to Europe
That night, a total of 242 people were rescued from the boat, but dozens were missing.
The bodies of Ghulam and his wife were found. But their four children—Tamim, 16, Samim, 14, Nejla, 12, and Hasim, 10—were not found.
Faruq remains hopeful that the children made it across the water and are alive in Europe. Yet he knows it’s possible they drowned, and because their identity was unknown, they may have been buried in unmarked graves.
Where Are the Dead Buried?
More than 1,000 migrants who drowned in the Mediterranean are buried in unmarked graves in Italy, Greece, and Turkey.
Sometimes the body of someone who drowned washes ashore days or even weeks after the incident. In such cases, the body is severely damaged and identification is difficult. Sometimes entire families die in one accident and no one remains to identify the bodies.
It is not easy to obtain an exact count of migrants buried in unmarked graves. BBC’s research is based on available data and interviews with local authorities. Therefore, the figures are approximate.
Some local authorities in Greece and Turkey say the number of migrants and bodies pulled from the sea is so large that they cannot maintain accurate records of all burials.
Furthermore, BBC’s research was limited to countries on the northern shore of the Mediterranean—Turkey, Greece, and Italy. There have been no shortage of incidents in the southern Mediterranean. Therefore, it is likely that migrants have also been buried in unmarked graves in Libya, but due to that country’s security situation, it is impossible to gather information.
Additionally, 880 unmarked graves in Kiliyos Cemetery in Istanbul were not included in the final count because government authorities could not confirm how many of them were refugees who lost their lives while trying to reach Europe.
The Central Mediterranean Route
The deadliest incidents have occurred on the central Mediterranean route, from North Africa to Lampedusa Island in Italy.
The route to Malta, Lampedusa, and Sicily is longer and more dangerous than the route through the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece. Additionally, boats on the first route are generally less suitable and more crowded.
The bodies of most of the drowned are never found. Of the 800 passengers on the ship that capsized on April 18 south of Italy, only 28 survived and 120 bodies were found. No other incident had claimed this many migrant lives.
The Eastern Mediterranean Route
About eighty percent of the one million migrants and asylum seekers who arrived in Europe by sea in 2015 came via the eastern Mediterranean route, from Turkey to Greece.
Most of those heading to Greece take the relatively short route from Turkey’s coast to the islands of Lesbos, Kos, Chios, or Samos.
The distance from Turkey’s coast to Lesbos is not more than ten kilometers. Yet hundreds of people have drowned on this short stretch of the Aegean Sea in rubber or wooden boats.
Mohammad Mohamadi, an Afghan volunteer who was himself once a refugee, came by pedal boat from Turkey to Lesbos in 2002. He says: “There is very little information about those who have drowned.”
“Everyone—NGOs, governments, volunteers—is focused on those who have survived and reached Europe. Rarely does anyone address those who drowned.”
Mohammad is one of several Afghan volunteers trying to help people on the island of Lesbos search for their missing loved ones.
He says: “We have practically no information about the missing and those buried with just a number.”
“All we know is that they came from Turkey and disappeared.”
Searching for Children
After Faruq saw his brother in that photo, he called his sister who lives in Germany. He and his wife went to Lesbos and identified the bodies of Ghulam and his wife.
But there was no trace of the children.
“While I was searching online, I found a photo of a volunteer holding a boy. The boy looked just like one of my nephews, and he appeared to be alive.”
Faruq tried to find the volunteer, but was told that he had left Lesbos shortly after the incident. Faruq’s sister and her husband managed to return her brother’s wife’s body to Afghanistan.
After the incident that took his brother’s life, the main cemetery on Lesbos filled up. As a result, local authorities set aside a plot of land—in the village of Kato Tritos, near an olive grove—for burying migrants.
Ghulam was among the first to be buried in Kato Tritos. Since then, more than 70 people have been buried there, more than half in unmarked graves.
Faruq wanted to find his nephews at any cost. He traveled to Turkey in early this year to see if the water had carried the children there.
“The incident occurred between Turkey and Greece. My brother and his wife were found in Greece, but my nephews were not. I thought perhaps the current had carried them back to Turkey.”
“I searched about 1,800 kilometers for them. Hospitals, coast guard… I went everywhere. I had their photos with me. But I found no trace of them.”
A Name, Not Just a Number
The procedure for recording unidentified migrant bodies in Turkey, Greece, and Italy is similar. Photos are taken of the body, it is examined to record any identifying marks, and finally a DNA sample is taken.
However, this procedure is not always followed. For example, on Greek islands where there is no medical examiner, unnamed migrants are sometimes buried without being recorded, according to locals.
Theodore Nousias is a medical examiner on Lesbos. He is sometimes called from surrounding islands to examine bodies found in the sea or washed ashore.
He says: “Sometimes people who have lost a family member or loved one call me. They come to the hospital to look at photos and identify the body. Sometimes they send their own DNA samples to the laboratory to see if there is a match.”
In Italy, the National Office of Missing Persons oversees this process. According to Mr. Peschiello, at least two-thirds of this office’s current work involves identifying missing migrants.
Once all information about a victim is collected, it is placed in a file and assigned a case number. This number essentially becomes the migrant’s new identity and is engraved on his or her grave.
We want the dead to be buried with the dignity of a human being, with a name, not a number.Vittorio Peschiello, National Office of Missing Persons, Italy
Mr. Peschiello explains: “For each person, we create a file with all relevant information, including any objects that may have been found with the body. We send this file to various NGOs and police agencies so that if someone was looking for them, they might be found.”
Mr. Peschiello adds: “We work around the clock trying to return the names of these men, women, and children to those the sea has taken from us. These people have lost everything: their lives, their futures, their families, and even their identities.”
“They have become ghosts. Their human dignity has been lost. We try to restore at least their human dignity by placing a name on their grave instead of a number.”
Hope Through DNA
Faruq traveled not only to Turkey but also to Lesbos to search for his nephews. There he met Mohamadi, the Afghan volunteer we mentioned earlier.
Mohamadi says: “When he arrived, I took him to the police station, the hospital, and the main migrant camp in Moria, but we found no trace of the children.”
“But I knew that after the capsizing incident, many unidentified children had been buried in the new cemetery. So I helped him send a DNA sample to Athens, hoping we might find a trace of his nephews.”
Faruq is still awaiting the results of the DNA test.
He says: “It is very important to me to know if they are dead or alive. If we find out they are dead, at least we know they rest in peace somewhere.”
Faruq has recently returned to Afghanistan and wants to get a visa again to go back to Greece. But European countries do not easily grant visas to Afghans. Last year’s visa was an exception.
I wish I could turn back time and lock the door so he wouldn’t leave.Faruq Pak Kar
Yet Faruq is determined to find out what happened. He has even sold a piece of land that he inherited to cover the costs of continuing the search for his nephews.
He says: “If they allow us to return the bodies, I will bring them back at my own expense.”
“We have lost six family members. Our family and our life have been destroyed.”
Faruq keeps photos of Ghulam, Tamim, Samim, Nejla, and Hasim so he can look at them every day.
“I told Ghulam to stay in Turkey, but he insisted on leaving. I wish I could turn back time and lock the door so he wouldn’t leave.”
How the Data Was Gathered
The BBC conducted research in March and April 2016 at a number of unmarked graves in Italy, Greece, and Turkey.
The sources of the research were local authorities and statements by official representatives, but in many cases the figures are approximate. It is possible that some migrants have been buried in unmarked graves in Libya, but unfavorable security conditions make it impossible to gather data from that country.
Statistics on migrants who have died or gone missing were taken from the Missing Migrants Project of the International Organization for Migration. This organization counts migrants who have died or gone missing outside the borders of a country or while traveling to another country.
With regard to migrants traveling across the Mediterranean Sea toward Europe, those missing are generally presumed drowned. The International Organization for Migration says that gathering data on fatalities during migration is difficult and the figures are approximate. For more information about the Missing Migrants Project’s research methodology, see: http://www.missingmigrants.iom.int/methodology
The locations marked on the map are sometimes approximate.
A note on terminology: The BBC refers to all people who have moved to another country and whose legal asylum proceedings have not been completed as migrants, whether they are fleeing war zones such as Syria whose asylum is ordinarily accepted, or those seeking better work and living conditions, whom some governments call economic migrants.
