To sum up, while the authorities have admittedly gone into serious efforts to set up Amygdaleza,
much needs to be done before Greece can safely claim to be acting in compliance with its
international obligations.
The cost of building and running Amygdaleza
To finance the construction and operation of Amygdaleza, Greece drew funding from three European
Funds (75% of total cost) along with its own budget (25% of total cost). The initial plan to cover the
expenditures solely by the External Borders Fund together with the national budget proved
unrealistic. Following the necessary reassurances by Greece about its commitment to effectively
improve its detention conditions, the Commission approved to co-finance the construction and
running costs of Amygdaleza also from the EU Return Fund. 20 Additional services, such as counseling,
medical services and legal aid, normally financed by the European Refugee Fund, were also covered
at by the European Return Fund. 21In practice, however, NGOs and private donors have however been
helping out also with their own resources to cover the needs of the detainees.
Construction- Equipment
Total Estimated Cost: 3,000,00022
Known costs23
Item
Cost
Item
Topographic design of
the camp24
€15,006
Furniture (plastic
Construction works26
€2,288,774
Metallic beds27
€73,800
Isolation materials28
€56,575
Mattresses 29
€73,800
Electrical supplies30
€51,578
tables and
Cost
€25,000
chairs)25
Had the construction required actual building rather than mere refurbishing and transport of prefabricated containers, it is likely that the costs would have been higher. As far as operational costs
are concerned, Amygdaleza appears to be running on roughly €10,500,000 per year. This budget
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
See C. Malmstrom, Letter dated 12. December 2012, available at
http://ec.europa.eu/carol/?fuseaction=download&documentId=090166e58e0a005b&title=lette
r.pdf .
Ibid.
An initial sum approved by the External Borders Fund for the whole construction of
Amygdaleza was of €1,867,505.13, available at http://static.diavgeia.gov.gr/doc/Β4ΩΦΙ-ΕΒΟ.
As published in www.diavgeia.gov.gr .
See http://static.diavgeia.gov.gr/doc/Β4Γ9Ι-ΔΒ7 and http://static.diavgeia.gov.gr/doc/Β41ΑΙ8ΜΑ .
See http://static.diavgeia.gov.gr/doc/Β49ΣΙ-ΡΝΗ .
See http://static.diavgeia.gov.gr/doc/ΒΛΛΗΙ-Η22. An initial sum of €1,525,887.00 for
construction works approved by the External Borders Fund was deemed insufficient.
http://static.diavgeia.gov.gr/doc/Β41ΑΙ-ΨΨΕ.
See http://static.diavgeia.gov.gr/doc/Β49ΣΙ-ΛΞ7 .
See http://static.diavgeia.gov.gr/doc/ΒΕΝΝΙ-1ΔΒ .
See http://static.diavgeia.gov.gr/doc/Β49ΣΙ-2ΞΙ .
See http://static.diavgeia.gov.gr/doc/ΒΕΝΝΙ-ΟΜΥ .
6