A neglected burial ground for migrants on Greek island of Lesbos has been given a drastic overhaul

LESBOS, Greece (AP) — Most drowned making the hazardous sea crossing from nearby Turkey, while others died of natural causes in migrant camps on the Greek island of Lesbos.

After years of neglect, a makeshift burial ground for migrants on the island has been cleaned up and landscaped to provide a dignified resting place for the dead, and for their relatives to visit.

Earth Medicine, the Lesbos-based charity that handled the project near the village of Kato Tritos, formally handed over the redesigned cemetery to municipal officials on Wednesday.

“We wanted it to be clear that this was a burial ground, (mostly) for people who died at sea — some of whom have been identified while others have not,” Earth Medicine spokesman Dimitris Patounis said. “It used to be just a field.”

For years, Lesbos has been a major destination for people seeking a better life in the European Union. They leave Turkish shores crammed into small, unseaworthy vessels provided by smuggling gangs. About 3,800 people have made the journey so far this year.

Before the intervention, the weed-choked graves were marked by a simple stone with a number written on it by marker, or, in the rare cases when it was available, a name. Currently, about 200 neat, uniform gray slabs filled with white gravel cover each grave, clearly listing whatever is known of the occupant.

“Now people will be able to visit when their (dead) relatives are identified,” Patounis said.

Officials stress that the burial ground is nondenominational, with recent inhumation services conducted by an Imam, a Greek Orthodox or a Catholic priest, according to the deceased's known beliefs.

“This was done with human dignity in mind, without any religious affiliation,” Patounis said.

The cemetery lies about a kilometer (½ mile) outside Kato Tritos in central Lesbos, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the island capital of Mytilini. Other migrants have been buried in the past in municipal cemeteries in other parts of the island, but this is the only burial ground specifically for migrants.

Follow AP’s coverage of global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

A grave of an unknown refugee is seen at the cemetery in Kato Tritos village on the northeastern Aegean Sea island of Lesbos, Greece, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. After years of neglect, a primitive burial ground for refugees who died trying to reach Greece's island of Lesbos has been cleaned up and redesigned to provide a dignified resting place for the dead. (AP Photo/Panagiotis Balaskas)

A cemetery is seen from above at Kato Tritos village on the northeastern Aegean Sea island of Lesbos, Greece, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. After years of neglect, a primitive burial ground for refugees who died trying to reach Greece's island of Lesbos has been cleaned up and redesigned to provide a dignified resting place for the dead. (AP Photo/Panagiotis Balaskas)

A boy lays flowers on a grave at the cemetery in Kato Tritos village on the northeastern Aegean Sea island of Lesbos, Greece, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. After years of neglect, a primitive burial ground for refugees who died trying to reach Greece's island of Lesbos has been cleaned up and redesigned to provide a dignified resting place for the dead. (AP Photo/Panagiotis Balaskas)

A woman walks at the cemetery in Kato Tritos village on the northeastern Aegean Sea island of Lesbos, Greece, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. After years of neglect, a primitive burial ground for refugees who died trying to reach Greece's island of Lesbos has been cleaned up and redesigned to provide a dignified resting place for the dead. (AP Photo/Panagiotis Balaskas)

People visit the cemetery at Kato Tritos village on the northeastern Aegean Sea island of Lesbos, Greece, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. After years of neglect, a primitive burial ground for refugees who died trying to reach Greece's island of Lesbos has been cleaned up and redesigned to provide a dignified resting place for the dead. (AP Photo/Panagiotis Balaskas)

A cemetery is seen from above at Kato Tritos village on the northeastern Aegean Sea island of Lesbos, Greece, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. After years of neglect, a primitive burial ground for refugees who died trying to reach Greece's island of Lesbos has been cleaned up and redesigned to provide a dignified resting place for the dead. (AP Photo/Panagiotis Balaskas)

LONDON (AP) — The European Union said Tuesday that it's investigating Facebook and Instagram over a range of suspected violations of the bloc's digital rulebook, including not doing enough to protect users from foreign disinformation ahead of EU-wide elections.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said it's opening formal proceedings into whether parent company Meta Platforms breached the Digital Services Act, a sweeping set of regulations designed to protect internet users and clean up social media platforms under threat of hefty fines worth up to 6% of annual revenue.

Brussels has been cracking down on tech companies since the DSA took effect last year, opening investigations into social media sites TikTok and X, formerly known as Twitter, and ecommerce platform AliExpress. TikTok bowed to EU pressure last week and halted a reward feature on its new app after the Commission started demanding answers about it.

The investigation includes an urgent request for Meta to provide information about its move to discontinue a key tool for monitoring elections.

“We have a well established process for identifying and mitigating risks on our platforms," Meta said in a statement. "We look forward to continuing our cooperation with the European Commission and providing them with further details of this work.”

European Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a social media post that the bloc is probing Meta "for suspected breach of DSA obligations to protect integrity of elections."

The EU is stepping up measures to safeguard elections as citizens of the bloc’s 27 nations prepare to vote in June for European Parliament lawmakers, amid widespread fears that the latest generative AI systems could be used to disrupt the many votes around the world this year.

The Commission said it's looking into whether Meta is doing enough to curb the spread of “deceptive advertisements, disinformation campaigns and coordinated inauthentic behaviour” that could pose a risk to “electoral processes” and consumer protection.

Officials said they suspected the Meta's content moderation system for advertisements was inadequate, allowing ads made with generative AI including deepfakes to exploited by malicious foreign actors seeking to meddle in elections even as the company makes money from them.

The EU also suspects that Facebook and Instagram might be reducing the visibility in recommendation feeds of political content from accounts that pump out a lot of it - a practice known as shadowbanning - and not being transparent about it with users, which would violate the DSA.

A third concern is Meta's decision to phase out Crowdtangle, a tool used by researchers, journalists and civil society groups for real-time monitoring of trending social media posts including during elections. The Commission is giving Meta five days to respond with information on how it will remedy the lack of such a tool.

The Commission is also investigating whether Meta's mechanism for users to flag illegal content is good enough under the DSA, because it suspects it's neither easy to access nor user-friendly.

FILE - The Facebook logo is seen on a cell phone in Boston, USA, Oct. 14, 2022. The European Union said Tuesday April 30, 2024 that it's scrutinizing Facebook and Instagram over a range of suspected violations of the bloc's digital rulebook, including not doing enough to protect users from foreign disinformation ahead of EU-wide elections. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)