The Lower House on Wednesday ratified
a deal between Italy and Albania to set up two migrant reception
centres on Albanian territory to process the asylum claims of
migrants and refugees rescued by Italian authorities at sea.
Lawmakers approved the ratification bill with 155 votes in
favour, 115 against and two abstentions.
The bill now passes to the Senate for final approval.
The agreement, signed by Premier Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian
counterpart Edi Rama in Rome in November, provides for the
reception and processing of up to 3,000 migrants and refugees
per month.
People with special needs such as the elderly, children or
pregnant women, migrants and refugees who have been rescued by
NGO-run ships and people who land directly on Italian soil are
to be excluded from the deal.
In December the Albanian constitutional court suspended the
ratification of the deal in the Albanian parliament pending a
decision on challenges to the plan.
Rama said at the time that he was "confident" in the court's
assessment of the
agreement because it "has nothing unconstitutional" and that he
expected a decision to be taken "much sooner" than the March
deadline.
Since taking office in autumn 2022 the Meloni government has
been reaching out to third countries in a bid to stem irregular
migration by sea to Italy, which in 2023 rose by around 50% over
the previous year.
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