An Italian navy ship carrying 16 men rescued at sea after departing from Libya arrived in the Albanian port town of Shengjin on Wednesday. Up to 3,000 adult migrant men picked up by the Italian coast guard in international waters will be sheltered in two Albanian processing centres each month under a new deal between Rome and Tirana.
Issued on: 16/10/2024 -
An Italian navy ship on Wednesday docked at the Albanian port of Shengjin to bring the first group of 16 migrants intercepted in international waters.
The naval ship Libra left the port of Lampedusa on Monday with 16 men – 10 from Bangladesh and six from Egypt – who were rescued at sea after departing from Libya, a ministry spokesman said.
Last week Italy formally opened two centres in Albania where it plans to process thousands of asylum-seekers outside its borders.
The centers will only house adult men, while vulnerable people such as women, children, the elderly and those who are ill or victims of torture will be accommodated in Italy. Families will not be separated.
Italian Ambassador to Albania Fabrizio Bucci said Friday the two centres were ready to process migrants after the opening was delayed for months to consolidate the crumbling soil at one centre, in Gjader where they will be accommodated.
Though the centre in Gjader has capacity for 3,000 migrants, it will start with 400 and increase to 880 in a few weeks.
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The number of people reaching Italy along the central Mediterranean migration route from North Africa has fallen by 61% in 2024 from 2023. According to the Italian Interior Ministry, as of October 15, 54,129 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea this year, compared to 138,947 by the same date last year.
Under a five-year deal signed last November by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, up to 3,000 migrants picked up by the Italian coast guard in international waters each month will be sheltered in Albania. They will be screened initially on board the ships that rescue them before being sent to Albania for further screening.
The two centres will cost Italy 670 million euros ($730 million) over five years. The facilities are run by Italy and are under Italian jurisdiction, while Albanian guards provide external security.
The first centre, an area in Shengjin, 66 kilometres (40 miles) northwest of the capital, Tirana, is used for screening newcomers. While the other centre, about 22 kilometres (14 miles) to its east near the former military airport in Gjader, accommodates migrants during the processing of their asylum requests.
Italian officials expect the Gjader centre will never be at full occupancy but that depends on the flow of migrants brought to Albania.
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In Albania, the migrants retain their right under international and European Union law to apply for asylum in Italy and have their claims processed there, a move expected to take a maximum of 28 days, including any appeal case, to process.
Italy has agreed to welcome those who are granted asylum. Those whose applications are rejected face deportation directly from Albania.
The controversial agreement to outsource the housing of asylum-seekers to a non-EU member country has been hailed by some countries that, like Italy, are suffering a heavy burden of refugees.
The agreement was endorsed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as an example of “out-of-box thinking” in tackling the issue of migration into the European Union.
But it has been slammed by human rights groups as setting a dangerous precedent.
Rama has made it clear that no other country will be able to have such centres in Albania. He said Albania felt an expression of gratitude for the tens of thousands of Albanians who were welcomed by Italy when communism fell in 1991, or support extended by Rome during the economic turmoil in 1997 and in the aftermath of the 2019 earthquake.
Meloni and her right-wing allies have long demanded that European countries share more of the migration burden. She has held up the Albania agreement as an innovative solution to a problem that has vexed the EU for years.
(AP)
Activists protest as first group of 16 migrants on Italian ship arrive in Albania
Copyright AP Photo/Vlasov SulaJerry Fisayo-Bambi
Published on 16/10/2024 -
Opponents of the Italy-Albania migrant deal argue it is undemocratic because the people of both countries have not been consulted.
A group of activists protested on Wednesday as the first Italian ship carrying migrants intercepted in international waters arrived in the Balkan country.
The demonstrators gathered at the entrance of the port of Shengjin, one of the two centres Italy opened in Albania last week, and displayed a banner that read, “The European dream ends here."
"It is not the first time we have protested against such a deal. We have opposed it the moment we knew about it," said one of the protesters, Edison Lika.
"This deal is against human rights; more concretely, it's about the migrants’ rights. Such a deal has not been democratic because the peoples of both countries have not been asked," he added.
Earlier on Wednesday, an Italian navy ship docked at the Albanian port of Shengjin to bring the first group of 16 male migrants — 10 from Bangladesh and six from Egypt — who were rescued at sea after departing from Libya, a ministry spokesman said.
Last week, Italy formally opened two return hub centres in Albania under Rome's jurisdiction, where it plans to process thousands of asylum-seekers outside its borders.
Only adult men would be housed in the centres, while vulnerable people such as women, children, the elderly, and those who are ill or victims of torture will be accommodated in Italy, according to Rome. Families will not be separated.
The first centre, an area in Shengjin, 66 kilometres northwest of the capital, Tirana, is used for screening newcomers, while the other centre, about 22 kilometres to its east near the former military airport in Gjader, accommodates migrants during the processing of their asylum requests.
Up to 3,000 migrants picked up by the Italian coast guard in international waters each month will be sheltered in Albania under a five-year deal signed last November by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama.
Italy has agreed to welcome those who are granted asylum. Those whose applications are rejected face deportation directly from Albania.
The controversial agreement to outsource the housing of asylum seekers to a non-EU member country has been hailed by some countries that, like Italy, are suffering a heavy burden of refugees, but it has also been slammed by human rights groups as setting a dangerous precedent.
Meloni and her right-wing allies have long demanded that European countries share more of the migration burden.
The Italian PM has held up the Albania agreement as an innovative solution to a problem that has vexed the EU for years, despite the decline in the number of people reaching Europe along the central Mediterranean migration route from North Africa.
This year, the number of migrant arrivals to Italy has fallen by 61% in 2024 from 2023.
As of 15 October, about 54,129 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea this year, compared to 138,947 by the same date last year, according to the Italian Interior Ministry.
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