Photo credit: the telegraph
Italian authorities are facing a new set of challenges as they open two migrant processing centres in Albania this month where men rescued at sea will be processed for asylum.
The hard-right administration says the move will combat human trafficking and allow in only those who have a genuine right to enter the European Union. But it has drawn criticism from human rights groups.
The European Court of Justice ruled on Friday that the plan to offshore migrants from countries Italy deems “safe” but which the European Union does not is illegal.
However, the court’s decision is not binding on Italy and Albania. Therefore, the ruling does not prohibit them from proceeding with the plans. The two centers, in Shengjin and Gjader, were supposed to open on May 1 after the two nations signed a bilateral agreement last November. However, “unforeseen circumstances” have repeatedly pushed back the opening.
Matteo Piantedosi, Italy’s Interior Minister, said last month, “We will start in October. There’s definitely been a few months of delay. There were some normal checks in which we discovered, for example, that the ground needed to be reinforced. That’s all, very normal variations during construction.”
The Italian government opened a trial detention center in Sicily in August. It is intended to mirror those in Albania by housing men from “safe” countries who can be quickly repatriated. A court in Catania ruled the measure illegal under Italian law. That ruling was overturned, and two Tunisian men were deported without having their asylum requests processed on September 11, the minister said in a post.
