The first group of migrants were
heading to Albania Monday to be processed in Italian-run centres
set up in the Balkan country which have been criticised by
rights groups as externalising the migrant issue and creating a
'new Guantanamo" but praised by other EU countries and the UK as
a possible model. The Navy ship Libra is heading to Albania,
ANSA sources said, to take the first group of migrants to the
centers set up in Albania to subject them to "accelerated border
procedures". The people to be transferred, rescued at sea, have
been screened on board to verify that they meet the required
requirements: originating from safe countries, male, not
vulnerable. The initiative is being managed by the Italian
Ministry of the Interior. Last week, the centers in Schengjin
and Gjiader became operational and will have to accommodate the
transferred migrants. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said
last week the centres "are similar to those in Italy" with
"light detention" regimes. "There is no barbed wire, there is
health care," he said. "Everyone can apply for international
protection (at them) and obtain it within days". British Prime
Minister Keir Starmer voiced special interest in the scheme, and
other moves that have brought migration to Italy down this year,
on a visit to Rome last month.
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