Overview
Amygdaleza Pre-Removal Detention Centre opened in 2012 as the country's first purpose-built detention camp and is the second largest detention facility in Greece. Located 15 km from Athens and managed by the Hellenic Police, it is used to detain asylum seekers and undocumented third country nationals. The centre has been frequently criticised for overcrowding, poor living conditions and reports of police abuse against detainees, making it amongst the most visible symbols of Greece's inhumane detention system.
This 3D model, developed as part of the Detention Landscapes project, reconstructs the spatial structures of the Amygdaleza detention centre. While architectural structures convey important aspects of state violence, the 3D model should be considered alongside documented testimonies from people who have first-hand experience of being detained in Amygdaleza, for a fuller understanding of the lived realities of immigration detention.
Exploring the 3D Model
Use your mouse or touchscreen to rotate, zoom, and explore the different sections of the facility. The model includes modular container structures, fences and communal areas. Some areas are marked with interactive hotspots providing testimonies of the lived reality of detention from former detainees. Different colours indicate differing functions of buildings (for accommodation, administrative activities etc).
Due to restrictions on access to the facility and limited photographic documentation due to confiscation of detainees' mobile phone devices, several elements in the model are based on satellite imagery, online research, interviews with detainees, official reports, and informed architectural inference. This model is therefore not an exact or architecturally accurate representation, but an interpretive reconstruction intended to visualise the spatial and experiential dimensions of detention.
The 3D Model
Architecture and Layout
Amygdaleza detention centre is situated within the north-west corner of the compound of the Hellenic Police training academy. It was initially constructed with approximately 250 containers for 820 detainees and later expanded to accommodate 2000 people. Today, the official capacity of the facility is 1000.
The detention centre is divided between a larger section holding detained men and a smaller section holding detained women. Women are housed together in one area whereas men are generally grouped into separate sub-sections according to their nationality. Sub-sections are divided by internal high wire fences, rendering detainees visible to each other, police, and visitors at all times except when they are inside containers. Each section holds 3-4 rows of containers. The centre's perimeter is surrounded by high wire fences topped with barbed wire. Sentry boxes with mirrored glass are positioned next to each sub-section and used by police for surveillance. The design provides no outdoor seating, weather protection, or facilities for eating outside accommodation containers.
Larger containers are located around the entrance of the facility and are used as administrative offices by police, for medical staff to conduct assessments and for official meetings between lawyers and detainees. Regular visitors (not lawyers) are not given access to these containers; they are required to speak to detainees through the wire fences. Other larger containers are used by detainees as prayer rooms at specific times of the day, when granted access by police. A playground is located close to the women's section of the detention centre, although it is inaccessible to detainees.
Lived Experiences and Testimonies
Testimonies from Amygdaleza describe an environment of high levels of stress and deteriorating mental health, exacerbated by poor material conditions and a complete lack of educational and recreational activities.
Some detainees sleep on metal bunk beds with mattresses, while others are forced to sleep on the floor without a mattress or blanket. The hygiene conditions are consistently described as extremely poor, the toilets and showers often dirty and dysfunctional, with no access to laundry facilities or cleaning services. The food provided to detainees is frequently stale and innutritious, resulting in many individuals paying for dry food from external sources including a weekly market.
Access to medical care is extremely limited, and often only in urgent cases. In general, detainees' health issues or medical requests are often ignored, and mental health challenges are widespread, with numerous individuals reporting suicidal thoughts.
There have been reports of physical and psychological abuse by police officers working at Amygdaleza, including towards detainees on hunger strike.
"The police assault us…physically, and they beat us a lot and they are all very racist...They told us 'You must go back to your country. We don’t give you any asylum'"
— 28 year-old man from Egypt, testimony taken in 2025
Resistance and Visibility
Protests by detainees demanding better treatment and more information about their legal cases have been frequent since the opening of Amygdaleza. Hunger strikes are common, provoked by deaths of detainees, lack of medical care and the general harsh living conditions in the facility. In October 2025, more than 30 people started a hunger strike in the facility demanding access to the asylum procedure and decent living conditions. In many cases, the authorities have reacted to protests with force, bringing in riot police to brutally suppress protests.
Credits
Related Content
- Map entry: Amygdaleza – Detention Landscapes
- 3D Models of Other Sites:
