Italy has taken control of the new
Shengjin migrant hotspot in Albania as part of an agreement
between Tirana and Premier Giorgia Meloni's government for Rome
to operate three centres for asylum seekers on Albanian
territory.
"The facility is ready, yesterday the works were completed and
it passed under Italian management," said Sander Marashi,
director of the port of Shengjin, which is some 70 kilometres
from Tirana.
Meloni and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama are set to visit the
hotspot on Wednesday.
Italy is to set up two migrant hotspots and a centre to hold
migrants awaiting repatriation for a total expenditure of almost
34 million euro a year.
The agreement, signed by Meloni and Rama in Rome in November,
provides for the reception and processing of up to 3,000
migrants and refugees rescued by Italian ships 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.
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.
The Italian opposition has slammed the Albania deal as creating
a new Guantanamo and allegedly breaching the Italian
Constitution, charges the government rejects.
The Italian Bishops Conference (CEI) and the Council of Europe
have also criticized the agreement.
Some other EU countries have said it is a model that could be
emulated, as has European Commission President Ursula von der
Leyen.
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