Photo credit: Aljazeera
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is bent on her government’s plans to send migrants and asylum seekers to detention centres in Albania.
Al Jazeera reports that Meloni said her right-wing government was “determined” to forge ahead with its scheme of sending migrants and asylum seekers outside the EU while their claims are being processed.
In a separate deal approved by the Albanian Parliament in February 2024, Albania agreed to hold up to 3,000 migrants and asylum seekers at any one time in two Italian-run processing centres located near the port of Shengjin.
Under the plan at the time, the migrants and asylum seekers would be held for periods of about a month. it was expected that up to 36,000 people a year could be sent from Italian custody to Albania over an initial period of five years.
The centres were meant to be operated under Italian law with Italian security and staff, while Italian judges would hear the immigration cases via video from Rome.
The agreement was denounced by rights groups. The International Rescue Committee described it as “dehumanizing,” while Amnesty International condemned it as “illegal and unthinkable”.
After parliamentary approval, Italy sent its first ship carrying asylum seekers and migrants. But almost instantly, the men were sent back after an Italian court ruled against their detention.
Despite court challenges, Italy sent asylum seekers to Albania in January and April 2025.
From the start, Italian judges have rejected deportations from the centres. They argued that the asylum seekers’ countries of origin were not safe enough for them to be sent back. When the case was referred to the European Court of Justice, the Italian government also lost.
