Samos Closed Controlled Access Centre (CCAC) – 3D Model

Organisation in Charge

Reception and Identification Service

Location

Vathy, Samos

Facility Status

Operational

Overview

The Samos CCAC opened on 18 September 2021 as the first EU-funded Closed Controlled Access Centre on the island. Located in a remote area near Vathy (~7 km from town), it combines reception and pre-removal detention functions, with barbed-wire fencing, turnstiles, CCTV, and a high-security environment resembling a prison. Its official capacity is 3,650 people.

This 3D model, developed as part of the Detention Landscapes project, reconstructs the spatial structures of the Samos CCAC. 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 Samos, 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.

Architecture and Layout

The accommodation areas of Samos CCAC are spread across 14,250 sqm and divided into distinct zones. Accommodation consists of 240 containers (25 sqm each), 7 ground floor residential buildings (500 sqm each) with a capacity of 120 people per building and 2 buildings (400 sqm each) with a capacity of 120 people per building. The facility also contains a 'quarantine zone' of 37 containers (25 sqm each) where new arrivals are confined. The CCAC has a 24/7 presence of Hellenic Police and guards from the private security company G4S who man the perimeter, entry points and checkpoints throughout the structure. The facility is surrounded by a double "NATO-type" security fence, according to the Ministry of Migration's website.

Lived Experiences and Testimonies

While officially aimed at improving living conditions for asylum seekers on Samos, the CCAC is often described as a "prison" where people are unlawfully detained in undignified conditions. The facility is located eight kilometres from the nearest town, creating barriers for people's access to essential services including legal and medical support.

The quality of the food provided inside the CCAC is a key concern raised by the facility's population. It is common for the meals to have expired by the time they are distributed.

Running water is extremely restricted in the CCAC - available for around one hour a day, if at all. While people are provided with a "welcome package" containing hygiene products upon arrival, this is not renewed, forcing them to buy basic necessities themselves or to rely on organisations in Vathy, when they are able to reach them.

Medical care is reported to be severely lacking in the camp and there are long waiting times to see doctors in the island's hospital:

"There is no medical treatment in the camp, if you say you have a stomachache, they say you are constipated, if you have pain in your body they give you paracetamol. A woman fell in the camp and it took three hours before they arrived and took her to the city, she was crying, it was an emergency."

— 25 year-old man from Guinea, testimony taken in 2023, source

According to a report from the Border Violence Monitoring Network, people report being subjected to physical violence, both in the Samos CCAC and upon arrival to the island. This violence includes beatings, strip and full body searches and psychological violence such as verbal abuse and humiliation.

Resistance and Visibility

People undergoing de facto detention in the Samos facility have protested the protracted delays in asylum processing which prolong their detention, and the dire prison-like conditions in the camp, including deprivation of good-quality, sufficient food. Protests have been spontaneous or more organised, including through sharing statements with NGOs for greater visibility.