Italy is planning to establish two migrant centres in Albania, aimed at accommodating those attempting to reach Europe via sea routes.
Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, has unveiled this initiative in response to the significant increase in migrant numbers over the past year.
As the InfoMigrants reports, the Albanian centres are scheduled to open in spring 2024 and will initially provide shelter for about 3,000 people. The Italian government’s long-term goal is to expand these facilities’ capacity to process up to 36,000 migrants annually.
The Shengjin Centre will serve as a facility for the identification and screening of new arrivals, whereas migrants scheduled for repatriation will be transferred to Gjader.
More than 145,000 individuals have arrived on the shores of Italy, showing a significant increase compared to the 88,000 people who landed during the same period last year.
According to Meloni, this is a genuinely European agreement, demonstrating that collaborative efforts in managing migratory flows are feasible. She also emphasised that the project excludes minors, pregnant women, and other vulnerable groups from being relocated to Albania. Specific details, including the project’s cost, have yet to be fully disclosed.
The Italian coast guard would bring rescued migrants to the port of Shengjin in northern Albania, where they would be taken to a reception centre for registration and the opportunity to seek asylum in Italy.
Moreover, this development marks the first instance in which an EU member state has outsourced its asylum procedures to a non-EU country. Albania, currently negotiating to join the EU and a NATO member since 2009, will undertake this responsibility. The agreement parallels the United Kingdom’s arrangement with Rwanda, which has faced legal challenges in its implementation.
Since 2013, Italy has received over one million migrants, but tragically, the mortality rate for those attempting to reach the country has exceeded 28,000.
The unfortunate trend of migrant deaths and disappearances while trying to reach Italy began in 2013 when 368 migrants who set off from Libya lost their lives.
Furthermore, Save the Children, an NGO has revealed that over 28,000 migrants in the Mediterranean have disappeared in their pursuit of reaching Italy, among them more than 1,143 minors.
Meanwhile, this year, over 100 minors, accounting for four per cent, have met a tragic fate or gone missing while attempting to cross the Mediterranean. Since 2014, around 112,000 unaccompanied minors have successfully reached Italy by sea.
