Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has
responded to criticism from German NGO Sea Watch accusing the
government of "spending hundreds of millions of euros of
taxpayers' money to deport and imprison" migrants in Albania
after the announcement that two centres Italy has set up in
Albanian territory will open this week.
"What a scandal!
"A government which - with a clear mandate received from
citizens - is working to defend Italian borders and stop human
trafficking, through concrete actions and international
agreements", Meloni wrote on social media.
On Saturday, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the first
migrants will arrive this week at the two centres Italy has
opened in Albania.
The centres, the result of an agreement between Meloni and
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, were initially supposed to
have opened in May but there have been construction and
procedural delays.
The scheme has been criticised by rights groups as externalising
migration processing and creating a new Guantanamo but several
other European countries have expressed interest in emulating
it.
Meloni has stressed that, under the bilateral protocol setting
up the centres, women, children and the 'fragile' would not be
taken to Albania after being rescued by Italian vessels.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
