center since 2020 which gives rise to concerns that closed centers in remote areas could leave space for arbitrary administrative practices and violations of asylum seekers' rights happening out of the public eye. Moreover, any forms of collective protest migrants might choose will be far from the center and, thus, remain invisible.29 Protests were held in early January of this year in response to the launch of construction for the new CCAC on Chios and Lesbos islands. Local Greeks gathered at the islands’ ports and managed to block the ferry carrying the machinery for the new facilities from docking.30 The North Aegean Regional Governor actively participated in protests. Those opposed to the creation of these new centers point out that this will also include a pre-removal detention section, which could trap thousands of people on the island. Vastria, the selected remote area for the Lesbos CCAC is in the middle of a pine forest with no fire-breaks.31 The Migration and Asylum Minister, during an online press conference with local media, claimed that the locals should not worry. He said that the structure will protect the islanders and the rest of the country, and the pre-removal detention section “will be totally closed, like the prisons of Chios”.32 The Minister also clarified that “closed centres are a choice made by the governing party based on ideology”33 and that closed centers together with the “safe third countries concept” approach (the non-examination of asylum applications34) and reduction of duration and cost of benefits for asylum seekers35 aim to “discourage them from coming in the first place”.36 This explicit link between the unlawful detention of people seeking safety and deterring migration is unacceptable. 6