information gathered framed the discussion and at the same time confirmed that the financial support of Member States has been instrumental in shaping Greece’s irregular migration policy. The second chapter turns to border control and apprehension policies. In the course of 20082013 the Greek authorities applied an Integrated Border Management policy, by reinforcing Greece’s external borders through human and material resources aiming to send a strong and symbolic message that the country does not have an open-doors policy. At the same time, extensive round-up operations in the interior have sought to act as the counterpart to border operations, by “clearing up” the interior from the irregular migrant population. While in absolute numbers this policing system appears effective, in relative numbers the outputs have been rather mediocre. The third chapter is dedicated to the second pillar of Greece’s policy framework, namely that of detention. The latter is becoming the flagship of Greece’s current migration management, strongly linked with return. Over the period 2008-2013, Greece was the biggest beneficiary of the Return Fund, receiving around EUR 125 M plus almost EUR 5 M in emergency funding. 50% of this allocation was earmarked for the implementation of actual returns and approximately 32 % for costs related to detention facility in order to improve their conditions23. Detention, in fact, has proven to be a particularly costly enterprise. Examining this linkage, the fourth chapter turns to return, voluntary and forced, as the main means of reducing Greece’s irregular migrant population. Voluntary return seems to hold the key to an effective migration management. Drawing from the above, the final chapter concludes with a review and summary of the policy recommendations with a view to better distributing resources and enhancing effectiveness. 23 Commission Staff Working Document on the Assessment of the implementation of the Greek Action Plan on Asylum and Migration Management, 7 October 2014, SWD (2014) 316, p.14 Page 15