AFP journalists witnessed the first arrivals under a new agreement between Rome and Tirana on Wednesday as a navy vessel transporting migrants who had been apprehended in Italian waters docked at Shengjin port in Albania.
After a 36-hour journey, the Italian navy ship transporting 16 men from Egypt and Bangladesh landed. They will be settled in prefabricated housing while their asylum requests are processed.
Italy’s two processing centers in Albania, surrounded by high walls and security cameras, are at Camp Gjader, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the port.
They will be operated under Italian law, with Italian security and staff, and judges hearing cases by video from Rome. If an applicant’s asylum request is refused, cells have been set up on site.
Human rights groups have questioned whether there will be enough protection for asylum seekers. They have expressed doubts, too, as to whether it complies with international law. But Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni brushed aside criticism in comments on Tuesday.
“It is a new, courageous, unprecedented path, but one that perfectly reflects the European spirit and has everything it takes to be followed also with other non-EU nations,” she said. The arrangement between the two countries is a European first, which other leaders in the region are watching closely.
+ There are no comments
Add yours