In Greece, migrant camps that once welcomed new arrivals with basic shelter have now become closed and heavily secured centers. On the island of Samos, one of these new “controlled access” centers looks more like a prison than a place of safety.
The large center, which opened in 2021, sits in the middle of the mountains and covers 62 hectares. From far away, it looks like a quiet white field, but a closer look shows rows of small buildings surrounded by barbed wire fences. Inside, migrants live in small prefabricated shelters, and police are constantly on patrol.
The camp on Samos now holds more than 3,000 people, mostly Afghans and Syrians, including many children. Migrants can be seen lining up for basic needs like water, but what’s clear is that this is not an open camp. The public and even the media are not allowed inside unless they have special permission.
This model is part of a bigger shift in the European Union’s (EU) approach to handling migration. The older “hotspot” system, which was designed to register and temporarily house migrants, has now evolved into a system of closed detention centers where people must stay until their asylum claims are processed.
Under the new EU Migration and Asylum Pact, which was adopted in May 2024, these types of closed camps may soon be placed at all external borders of the EU. The goal is to quickly decide who qualifies as a refugee and who will be returned to their home country.
The idea behind these centers is to speed up the asylum process, control migration, and reduce the number of people moving freely inside Europe before their legal status is confirmed. But this new system has drawn criticism from human rights groups who say that turning these places into prison-like spaces increases suffering and isolation.
What began as a place of shelter and safety has now become a space of control and restriction. Children grow up behind fences, families live under constant watch, and movement is tightly controlled. While the EU sees it as a way to manage migration better, many say it’s a move that dehumanizes migrants and takes away their dignity.
With this change, the “jungle” model of overcrowded, makeshift camps has shifted to a model of strict surveillance and limited freedom. Greece’s island camps, especially Samos, now serve as a test case for this wider European strategy—one that could shape the future of how the continent deals with migration.