Italy will be able to accommodate refugees in asylum centers in Albania in the future. The parliament in Tirana approved the controversial migration agreement. Human rights activists criticize the project as “dehumanizing” and “illegal.”
As expected, Albania’s parliament has approved the controversial migration agreement with Italy. This means that people who were taken on board by Italian authorities in the Mediterranean can be brought to Albania in the future. There, their asylum applications will be examined in refugee camps – which are operated by Italy – and, if necessary, rapid returns to their countries of origin will be made possible.
Parliament in Albania’s capital Tirana passed the law with the votes of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s ruling Socialist Party and the smaller PDIU party. 77 out of 140 MPs voted for it. The right-wing opposition boycotted the vote and said afterwards that the deal harmed “national security, territorial integrity and the public interest.”
“Sharing a burden with the EU”
Rama, on the other hand, said it was about “sharing a burden” with the EU whose scope “goes beyond the traditional divisions of left and right.” He described the agreement as a gesture of “solidarity” with Italy, which allowed thousands of Albanians to enter the country after the fall of the communist government in the early 1990s.
The Constitutional Court in Tirana also approved the plan. It found that Italian jurisdiction in the centers did not violate Albania’s sovereignty. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also supported the plan. Albania has been a candidate for EU membership since 2014.
Italy expects 36,000 migrants per year
A center surrounded by barbed wire in the port city of Shengjin will be used for the first reception of migrants. The first medical examinations and the first examination of migrants’ chances of obtaining asylum will take place there.
From Shengjin, people will be taken seven kilometers inland to a center in Gjader that can accommodate a maximum of 3,000 people at a time. According to Italian figures, 36,000 migrants are accommodated there every year. Italy should manage the centers, take care of security and cover all costs. Albania should help with external security.
Rome said Italy does not want to accommodate “particularly vulnerable” people in the refugee camps, such as unaccompanied minors, pregnant women, people with disabilities, senior citizens or victims of human trafficking. The centers are also not intended for migrants who arrive on Italian coasts by boat or who are picked up by civilian sea rescuers – but only for those who are taken on board by the Italian authorities in international waters off Italy.
Human rights activists fear unlawful imprisonment
Human rights activists criticize the plans. Among other things, they complain that the project involves unlawful detention. In addition, Rama acted in a non-transparent manner and did not publicly discuss the plans in Albania in advance. The aid organization International Rescue Committee (IRC) criticized the agreement as “dehumanizing,” while Amnesty International called it “illegal and unenforceable.”
In Italy, both chambers of parliament had already approved the migration agreement. The country had also sought support from other EU countries to cope with the growing number of incoming migrants. According to data from the Interior Ministry in Rome, the number of arriving migrants increased by 50 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year. Around 155,750 migrants reached Italian shores last year, including more than 17,000 unaccompanied minors.
Oliver Soos, ARD Vienna, tagesschau, February 22, 2024 4:44 p.m