A last farewell to the victims of the deadly Lesvos shipwreck on 3 April who had remained unburied

On Saturday, 12 July 2025, at the refugee cemetery in Kato Tritos, Lesvos, the final burials of the victims of the recent deadly shipwreck of 3 April 2025, off the coast of Skala Sikamnias, took place: a 23-year-old woman and her two-and-a-half-year-old son. Alongside them, another child was laid to rest—an unidentified boy, victim, most likely, of another tragic incident.

The families of the victims and members of the refugee community from the Mavrovouni camp were there to say their goodbyes. Refugees, friends and relatives prepared the graves themselves, digging with their own hands, honoring their dead and bidding farewell to their loved ones according to their own customs and rituals.

The 3rd April shipwreck claimed the lives of seven people – three women, three children, and one man – while one girl remains missing. All the surviving families lost members in the tragedy.

RSA, with over 10 years of experience in this field, is representing most of the survivors and all the families of the victims.

It took over three months of systematic work, coordination and communication with the Hellenic Coast Guard, the Forensic Services, the Civil Registry and the Municipality to complete all procedures of identification and to resolve all pending issues related to the burials. This is a process that should be carried out automatically and within a reasonable timeframe, without the need for intervention from our legal team.

As Efi Latsoudi, social scientist at RSA who was present at the funerals, notes: “Words lose their meaning in this place and time of tragedy. Border policies that kill people come with a heavy toll in human lives and unbearable pain. They leave behind a collective trauma that we all carry. The point is not only to stand by families as they bury their loved ones. The point is what we do to stop burying people.”