Opponents of the Italy-Albania migrant deal argue it’s undemocratic as a result of the individuals of each international locations haven’t been consulted.
A bunch of activists protested on Wednesday as the primary Italian ship carrying migrants intercepted in worldwide waters arrived within the Balkan nation.
The demonstrators gathered on the entrance of the port of Shengjin, one of many two centres Italy opened in Albania final week, and displayed a banner that learn, “The European dream ends right here.”
“It’s not the primary time we’ve protested in opposition to such a deal. We’ve got opposed it the second we knew about it,” stated one of many protesters, Edison Lika.
“This deal is in opposition to human rights; extra concretely, it is concerning the migrants’ rights. Such a deal has not been democratic as a result of the peoples of each international locations haven’t been requested,” he added.
Earlier on Wednesday, an Italian navy ship docked on the Albanian port of Shengjin to convey the primary group of 16 male migrants — 10 from Bangladesh and 6 from Egypt — who have been rescued at sea after departing from Libya, a ministry spokesman stated.
Final week, Italy formally opened two return hub centres in Albania underneath Rome’s jurisdiction, the place it plans to course of 1000’s of asylum-seekers exterior its borders.
Solely grownup males can be housed within the centres, whereas susceptible individuals akin to girls, kids, the aged, and those that are in poor health or victims of torture will likely be accommodated in Italy, in response to Rome. Households won’t be separated.
The primary centre, an space in Shengjin, 66 kilometres northwest of the capital, Tirana, is used for screening newcomers, whereas the opposite centre, about 22 kilometres to its east close to the previous army airport in Gjader, accommodates migrants through the processing of their asylum requests.
As much as 3,000 migrants picked up by the Italian coast guard in worldwide waters every month will likely be sheltered in Albania underneath a five-year deal signed final November by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama.
Italy has agreed to welcome those that are granted asylum. These whose purposes are rejected face deportation immediately from Albania.
The controversial settlement to outsource the housing of asylum seekers to a non-EU member nation has been hailed by some international locations that, like Italy, are struggling a heavy burden of refugees, but it surely has additionally been slammed by human rights teams as setting a harmful precedent.
Meloni and her right-wing allies have lengthy demanded that European international locations share extra of the migration burden.
The Italian PM has held up the Albania settlement as an progressive answer to an issue that has vexed the EU for years, regardless of the decline within the variety of individuals reaching Europe alongside the central Mediterranean migration route from North Africa.
This 12 months, the variety of migrant arrivals to Italy has fallen by 61% in 2024 from 2023.
As of 15 October, about 54,129 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea this 12 months, in comparison with 138,947 by the identical date final 12 months, in response to the Italian Inside Ministry.
