First migrants arrive to Albania under deal with Italy

By AFP - Oct 16,2024 - Last updated at Oct 16,2024

A group of civil rights activists gather in protest, after the first group migrants intercepted in Italian waters, arrived at Shengjin port in Albania on October 16 (AFP photo)

SHËNGJIN, ALBANIA — A navy ship carrying migrants intercepted in Italian waters docked early Wednesday in Albania, nearly a year after Rome and Tirana reached a controversial deal to process asylum seekers.

Sixteen men from Bangladesh and Egypt disembarked from an Italian navy vessel at Shengjin port shortly before 10:00 am , AFP journalists saw.

The men were escorted in small groups towards the gates of the centre just a few meters from the vessel.

Amnesty International has called the centres a "cruel experiment (that) is a stain on the Italian government".

Italy will run two migrant centres in Albania, surrounded by high walls and security cameras , one in Shengjin and the other one in Gjader, 20 kilometres from the port.

The centres will be operated under Italian law, with Italian security and staff, and judges hearing cases by video from Rome.

More than 300 Italian soldiers, doctors and judges are involved in the operation, according to Italian diplomats.

After disembarking in Shengjin, the migrants will be registered and undergo health checks. They will then be transferred to the Gjader centre.

There they will be accommodated in prefabricated houses of some 12 square metres and wait processing of their asylum claims.

Cells have been set up on site for applicants whose asylum requests are refused.

Courageous' or 'Cruel

Rights groups have questioned whether there will be enough protection for asylum seekers and have expressed doubts as to whether the move complies with international law.

But Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni brushed aside criticism in comments on Tuesday.

"It is a new, courageous, unprecedented path, but one that perfectly reflects the European spirit and has everything it takes to be followed also with other non-EU nations," she said.

The arrangement between the two countries is a European first, which other leaders in the region are watching closely.

The migrants' arrival in Albania comes ahead of a European Union summit in Brussels this week, where migration is on the table.

In a letter to member states ahead of the talks, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc would "be able to draw lessons from this (Albania) experience in practice".

The project was agreed in a November 2023 deal between Meloni and her Albanian counterpart Edi Rama. Set to last five years, it will cost Italy an estimated 160 million euros a year.

That money "could have been used for public health to reduce waiting lists, but we are throwing them out the window to deport migrants and trample on their rights", Elly Schlein, leader of Italy's centre-left Democratic Party, said in an interview with the Corriere della Sera daily paper on Wednesday.

The migrants intercepted in Italian water who are deemed the most vulnerable , like women and children , are due to be taken to Italy.

Albania's centres will have a capacity of 1,000 initially growing to 3,000 in the long term.

Its critics say that given such numbers, the scheme cannot be justified.

"Over the last three years, more than 1,600 migrants have landed in Italy," migration researcher Matteo Villa of Datalab Europe posted on X. "An Italian navy vessels is taking 16 to Albania."

"I don't think I need to add anything else."

Rate