An Egyptian volunteer buries Muslim immigrants

"Some migrants die crossing the Evros River into Greece." On the Greek island of Lesbos, there is a cemetery of Muslim migrants who died in transit after smugglers tricked them into believing they would reach European shores safely.

At that cemetery, 32-year-old Mostafa Daw al-Masry volunteered to bury the dead. He moved to Greece to study Greek literature and work in translation. He volunteered to bury the Muslims in a makeshift cemetery inside an olive grove.

Mustafa washes the dead and shrouds him according to Islamic law. He prays for them before having mercy on them and hopes that their families will be able to find their graves.

In October 2015, Mustafa was working as an interpreter for migrants inside the camps on Lesbos. After three immigrant boats sank, the bodies of the Muslim immigrants were buried in a small section of the cemetery of St. Panteleimon Church. As the death toll increased from boats from Turkey to Greece, the cemetery soon filled up.

Then he decided to put pressure on the municipality to provide a burial plot for unknown Muslim immigrants, on condition that he bury them himself. On the tombstones write their age and gender. Nobody knows who these people are.

The families of the missing people contact him, as he is the only person who has information about those buried there.

The number of unknown bodies buried in this makeshift cemetery is increasing, and the responsibilities Mustafa has to bear are increasing. Despite this, the 35-year-old Moroccan national, Naoufel, still wants to travel to Turkey and embark on this perilous journey to Greece. The young man insists on traveling even though he knows that many have lost their lives in this way. “I am fully aware that there is a great chance that I may die. But there is also a small chance of successfully emigrating to Europe and finding work there.”