Stark message on migrant crisis: We’ve run out of room to bury the dead

The death toll from the European refugee crisis has grown so large that authorities are struggling to find places to bury the dead, according to the mayor of Lesbos. Speaking to the Greek radio station Vima FM, Spyros Galinos said there are more than 50 bodies in the island’s morgue that do not have a burial place. He added that authorities are making arrangements to take over a field next to Lesbos’ main cemetery to bury those who died trying to reach the island from nearby Turkey.

The waves of the Aegean are not just washing up dead refugees, dead children, but (also) the very civilization of Europe.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras

The comments come as Greece’s coast guard confirmed four refugees drowned and another six were missing off the island of Farmakonisi after their boat sank. Eleven people, including six children, also drowned on Sunday when their boat capsized off the island of Samos, trapping them inside the vessel’s cabin. The coast guard said more than 1,400 people were rescued in 39 separate search operations in the eastern Aegean Sea over the weekend.

Lesbos Europe