Greece will close the refugee camps located on several islands, including Chios, Samos and Lesbos, and will replace them by “more restrictive holding facilities”, according to Deutsche Welle. The camps to be closed include Moria camp, which currently hosts 36,400 people and whose conditions were heavily criticized by several human rights groups and the refugees themselves. Alkiviadis Stefanis, the governmental special coordinator for migration, declared that “decongesting the islands is a priority at this stage”. The new facilities will be closed and are aimed to allow the identification, relocation and deportation with a capacity of a least 5,000 persons each. In this way, people will not be able to move freely but will have to wait until they are granted refugee status and relocated, or rejected and sent back to Turkey. Government spokesman Stelios Petsas said the “closed pre-departure centres would make it easier to control the movements of asylum seekers and prevent them from slipping across to the mainland undetected”, reported Euronews. Besides, smaller camps on the islands of Kos and Leros will be remodelled and enlarged. The changes are in line with Greece’s new plans for relocating thousands of asylum seekers to the mainland by early 2020. Additionally, Stefanis informed that they will issue new operation criteria for NGOs and only those that meet them will be allow to stay and operate in the country. Amnesty International has reacted to the decision qualifying it as “outrageous” and a “punitive and a completely misguided response to the urgent needs of the thousands refugees and asylum seekers”. The mayor and municipality council of Samos have resigned, accusing the Greek government of “transforming the island to an open jail”.