The Italian government has announced that it will build two migration facilities on Albanian territory. The centers will be managed from Italy and will be operational next spring. In return, Italy is campaigning for Albania’s accession to the EU.
The agreement between the two countries provides for the establishment of two migrant centers in Albania that can accommodate up to 3,000 people, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced on Monday after a meeting with her Albanian counterpart Edi Rama in Rome.
Italian asylum procedure in Albania
Meloni hopes the centers will be operational by spring 2024. “With the agreement with Albania, we pursue three goals: combating human trafficking, preventing illegal migration flows and allowing into Europe only those who are truly entitled to international protection,” the Italian Prime Minister told Il Messaggero newspaper.
In these facilities, Italy will “manage the entry, temporary reception, processing of asylum applications and the possible return of immigrants.” The agreement applies to immigrants rescued at sea, excluding minors, pregnant women and vulnerable people.
The centers will be managed from Italy and Albania will participate in the external supervision of the facilities. According to Meloni, Albania would have “confirmed itself as a friend of the European Union” with this pact.
A role model for the rest of Europe?
According to Rome, the agreement could become a model for cooperation between EU and non-EU countries in managing migration flows. Italy would now have the opportunity to use the port of Shengjin and the area around Gjader, where two facilities could be built at “its own expense” and under Albanian jurisdiction.
Meloni hopes to send up to 36,000 people to Albania in the future to ease the burden on reception centers on Italian territory.
Albania gets into position
“This agreement is of European importance and shows that we can work together to manage migration flows. Albania is confirmed as a friendly nation and, although not yet part of the European Union, behaves as if it were a Member State, and this is one of the reasons why I am proud that Italy has always been one of the supporters of the expansion of the West. Balkan countries,” said the Albanian Prime Minister.
When it comes to migration, Italy has managed to raise the Tunisia issue at the highest level at European and international levels. “The discussions are very positive, even if many aspects still need to be clarified,” Meloni explains. The number of migrants leaving Tunisia for Italy has fallen since October. Since the beginning of 2023, 144,039 migrants have arrived in Italy via the Mediterranean Sea. In the comparable period of 2022 there were 85,282.
Source: Krone
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