the Italian Navy boat with the first migrants arrived in Albania

The Italian navy boat with on board the first migrants intercepted in Italian waters and taken to Albania arrived this Wednesday morning in the Albanian port of Shengjin, after more than 36 hours of sea travel, noted journalists from the AFP. The 16 men, from Egypt and Bangladesh, will be registered in prefabs installed by Italy at the port, before being taken 20 kilometers further to the Gjader camp, where they can submit their asylum applications and wait for the response from the Italian authorities. If the latter is refused, cells have been installed in the camp, waiting to send them back to their country of origin.

This outsourcing of the asylum request, a first in Europe, was made possible by a controversial agreement signed between Rome and Tirana in November 2023. It has since been criticized by many human rights NGOs who see it as a violation. international rules. Lasting five years, its cost for Italy is estimated at 160 million euros per year. It only concerns adult males intercepted by the Italian Navy or Coast Guard in their search and rescue zone in international waters.

The procedure provides for an initial check on a military ship, before a transfer to Shengjin, for identification, then to the former military base in Gjader. The centers should have a capacity of 1000 places initially, then 3000 eventually, figures which for some do not justify this agreement. “Over the last three days, more than 1,600 migrants have landed in Italy. An Italian ship transports 16 to Albania. I don’t think it’s necessary to add anything else.”wrote this Tuesday on X Matteo Villa, researcher at the Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI).

“Courageous” or “Inhuman”

Greeting Tuesday a “courageous agreement”Giorgia Meloni is what you also said “proud that Italy has become an example to follow from this point of view”, evoking the interest of the French, German, Swedish and British governments in the Italian policy of managing migratory flows. The agreement was criticized by many human rights NGOs who see it as a violation of international rules.

“The Italy-Albania agreement violates international maritime law and risks further eroding the fundamental rights of refugees,” wrote the NGO SOS Humanity on Tuesday, estimating that “Italy de facto detains people seeking protection on Albanian territory without judicial review, which is profoundly inhumane and violates their fundamental rights (…) This agreement is a new strategy of a Member State of the EU aims to outsource migration management and thus absolve itself of responsibility for the human rights of refugees.

Earlier this week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen mentioned in a letter to EU member states a flammable proposal to transfer migrants to reception centers in third countries, “return hubs”calling to pull the “lessons” of the Italy-Albania agreement.