Slingenberg 387 Before, when I’m feeling so bad, I could come in the city, and talk with somebody. At least walking [on] the beach. But there, no…you have to be [in the camp]. And if you want to go in the city, you [need] the money. If you don’t have any money, then you cannot get here. Also Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) conducted 25 semi-structured interviews with MSF patients and staff living and working in a CCAC in 2021 (Médecins Sans Frontières, 2021). In the report, MSF stressed the restrictive character of the CCACs and their ability to contain and detain people arriving in Europe. One of their interviewees said: Europe is a country of freedom, but why are you taking our freedom from us? You want us to be in prison. Being in that new camp, we will not be considered as refugees but as someone who committed a crime. If I did a crime I go to prison, but I did not commit any crime I am just a refugee. Similarly, in a joint statement, various NGOs critique ‘the prison-like structure, [that] combined with a heavy security presence and stringent entry/exit conditions, creates a pervasive feeling of imprisonment [for its residents]’ (Refugees International, 2022). The statement contains the following testimony of one of the residents of the Samos CCAC: Living in the camp [CCAC] on Samos is a very difficult experience. They shouldn’t even give it the name ‘camp’; in my opinion it is a prison – there is no difference… In 2023, a report was published by ‘I Have Rights’, a non-profit law clinic on Samos (I Have Rights, 2023). For this report, testimonies were collected from May to June 2023 through semi-structured interviews with people who resided in the CCAC in 2023. Again, the testimonies show how this centre is experienced as a prison: It is very difficult for us in the camp; very, very difficult. The camp is a prison. We live like prisoners in the camp. Even in my country, I have never been in a prison like this place. Our freedom is limited. It’s a place we call ‘the next African prison’. Minds are destroyed. Mentally, psychological illness is killing people in this camp. People lost lives, lost babies, lost families. We came here because we needed protection. We expected a house, not a prison. Everytime you come inside or outside they check you. Even inside the camp to go to the doctor or reception, they search you. What kind of life is this? Likewise, the NGOs Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) and PRO ASYL conclude in 2023 that ‘the new structures were heralded as open accommodation structures, providing better conditions and security, but are actually more akin to prisons’, since asylum seekers living in the CCACs ‘are living under increased control, surveillance and repression’ (Refugee Support Aegean and PRO ASYL, 2023).