- Italy begins sending asylum seekers to Albania for processing
- Rights groups criticize the deal as a violation of human rights
- Italy aims to process up to 36,000 asylum applications yearly
An Italian military ship docked in Albania to transfer refugees and migrants, marking the first such deployment under a contentious agreement between the two nations that sends asylum seekers outside the European Union while their claims are processed.
The ship picked up 16 individuals in Italian waters and arrived at Shengjin port on Wednesday. Italy’s right-wing government has hailed the deal as unprecedented, and other EU members looking to tighten immigration rules are considering it. However, rights groups have condemned it as a violation of human rights.
Ten guys from Bangladesh and six from Egypt disembarked the ship. They are the first arrivals under the agreement signed between Italy and Albania in November.
The naval ship Libra left Lampedusa on Monday. According to officials, the refugees were rescued at sea after leaving Libya last week.
When they arrived in Albania, they were led to the gates of a processing center just a few meters from the vessel. Their cases will be tried at the adjacent Gjader airbase, which has a capacity of 3,000 people.
Italy has established two centers in Albania, with ambitions to process up to 36,000 asylum applications annually. The institutions will be run under Italian law, and Italian security, staff, and judges will hear cases via video from Rome.
According to the agreement reached by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, persons will be initially inspected on board the ships that rescue them before being transported to Albania for further screening.
Refugees apprehended in Italian waters and judged most vulnerable, including women and children, will be transported to Italy.
The agreement is being implemented as other EU member states attempt to embrace tighter immigration policies in response to pressure from the far right, which won significant gains in EU elections last summer.
Albania has stated that it will collaborate entirely with Italy.
“Cruel experiment”
A few activists assembled outside the port’s entrance to protest the admission of refugees, waving a sign that said, “The European dream ends here.”
Rights groups have questioned the deal’s compliance with international law.
According to Amnesty International, the centers are a “cruel experiment [that] is a stain on the Italian government.” Doctors Without Borders say the new plan “raises serious human rights concerns.
Meloni dismissed the criticism in comments on Tuesday.
She stated that it is a fresh, brave, and unprecedented path, but one that precisely symbolizes the European spirit and has everything it takes to be followed by other non-EU countries.
The first expedition under the agreement will occur before this week’s EU summit in Brussels, where migration is expected to be a key theme.
In a letter to member states before the negotiations, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen stated that the bloc would “be able to draw lessons from this experience in practice.”
‘Part of the problem’
Critics have declared that the pact will not have the expected effect of “deterrence” due to the enormous expense of the operation, the limited capacity of the processing centers, and Italy’s inability to eventually deport the majority of the refugees.
According to migration analyst Matteo Villa of Datalab Europe, the more refugees opt to trek, the more likely they will be brought to Italy because the Albanian center’s capacity is limited.
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“No matter how you look at it, not only will the idea of opening a centre in Albania not be part of the solution, but it will become part of the problem,” he said.
The number of persons arriving in Italy via the central Mediterranean migrant route from North Africa declined by 61 percent in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same time in 2023.
According to the Italian Ministry of the Interior, 54,129 refugees had landed in Italy by sea as of Tuesday, compared to 138,947 on the same date last year.
The two centers in Albania will cost Italy 670 million euros ($730 million) over five years.
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