The Commission “is positively willing to buy specifically equipped prefabricated buildings, funding the renovation of 200 containers and covering the center’s operational cost,” he said, according to Kathimerini.

The first of 30 Greece plans to set up over the next two years, has caused a dispute between his ministry and another putting the plans for the detention center, in danger.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Makis Voridis said the shelters on the site were for seismic protection and are the responsibility of his own ministry, Mr. Chrysohoidis said and  that there is no issue will be based on the existing program.

In a letter to Chrysochoidis, Voridis said, “I do not consent to their requested use by your ministry”, according to Kathimerini.

Even though this dispute was not discussed with the European Comission in Brussels, Chrysochoidis faced condemnation for the detention conditions of migrants in Greece.

He responded that illegal immigration into Greece has been persistent and accused Turkey for failing to respect a bilateral treaty for the repatriation of undocumented migrants while he stressed the need to implement the EU readmission agreement with Turkey

The Greek minister called on the Council for Justice and Home Affairs, which is due to meet in Luxembourg tomorrow, to vote on the readmission agreement with Turkey.

According to Greek media reports, the second temporary detention or so “closed hospitality centers”, is going to start operating near the small town of Deskati, in the northern prefecture of Grevena, after the May 6 elections.

Local residents are open to the project however, unlike residents in Amygdaleza, according Deskati Mayor Nikos Migos. “The local community does not only believe that the center will not be a problem but that it will bring us significant benefits,” Migos told Kathimerini, referring that  the facility would create 150 police jobs, 350 more jobs for guards and another 350 in other sector

Meanwhile, in a new statement to address illegal immigration, Mr. Chrysohoidis announced on Tuesday that it will raid apartments, mainly in central Athens, where thousands of undocumended immigrants live in overcrowded and unhygienic conditions. The minister warned that property owners of these overcrowded apartments of sometimes “30 or 50 people in crammed spaces of 50 to 100 square meters” illigal immigrants will be arrested.

On radio, Minister of Citizen Protection said that “Athens will BE clear in a few days, today or tomorrow  we will announce that the apartments in which undocumented immigrants live en masse will be empty and the owners prosecuted.”