Nameless dead - Identifying migrants’ bodies in Greece

Since 2020 a fence has been steadily growing along the length of the Evros River, reinforcing this natural border between Greece and Turkey. The high-tech barrier has become a symbol of Fortress Europe, designed to keep migrants and asylum seekers out of the EU. But thousands of people continue to risk their lives attempting the river crossing despite the five-meter high and 38-km long steel fortifications. It’s not known how many people drown in the process. More than 60 people died in 2022 - and that is only counting the number of bodies found on the Greek side of the river. Pavlos Pavlidis is Professor of Forensic Medicine at the University Hospital of Alexandroupolis. Pavlidis carries out autopsies on bodies found in the water or in the surrounding forest. He tries to ascertain their time and cause of death, and their identity. But that can be very difficult. Most of the dead do not carry any form of ID and being in the water for days can radically change a body’s appearance. For friends and loved ones waiting in vain to hear back, not knowing what has happened is torture. When Pavlidis is unable to identify a body, it is buried by the local funeral directors in a cemetery for anonymous migrants.