A good example of “thinking outside the box”. This is how Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, described Italy’s controversial plan to house migrants in Albania. Now, a year later, it is about to be put to life. The detention centers in Albania, which is not a member of the EU, are ready. On Monday, Italy’s interior ministry said the ship carrying the first migrants, ten men from Bangladesh and six from Egypt, had set sail from the dock on the Italian island of Lampedusa. It was reported by AP. On Wednesday morning Norwegian time, the ship had docked in Shengjin in northern Albania. On 11 October, an Italian soldier stands guard in front of the gate of the camp where Italy will house migrants in Gjader in Albania. Photo: Florion Goga / Reuters This is the first time that migrants who have reached an EU country are sent to a country outside the EU while they wait for their asylum applications to be processed. It has received reactions from human rights defenders. The Italian naval vessel with the migrants was loaded into the port of Shengjin in Albania on Wednesday morning. Photo: Florion Goga / Reuters Guided by Italy – This is a new, brave and untrodden path. But there is one that perfectly shows the European spirit and contributes to a good relationship with countries that are not members of the EU, said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni when she spoke in Italy’s National Assembly on Tuesday. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni praised the plan on Tuesday when she addressed the Italian National Assembly. Photo: Mauro Scrobogna / AP Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni praised the plan on Tuesday when she addressed the Italian National Assembly. Photo: Mauro Scrobogna / AP The migrants sent to Albania were rescued at sea on October 13 after trying to cross the Mediterranean, according to Reuters. They will be held in two detention centres. A reception facility at the port of Shengjin. Another in the town of Gjader, half an hour’s drive further inland. Initially, they will house 400 people behind five meter high fences. Healthy men who the Italian authorities believe come from safe countries and are not entitled to asylum. The reception facility at the port of Shengjin in Albania is ready and waiting for the first migrants from Italy. After arriving in Shengjin, they are sent further north to Gjader. Photo: Florion Goga / Reuters According to the agreement, up to 36,000 migrants can be sent to Albania each year, according to Reuters. The goal is to quickly send them straight back to where they came from. This is the first time that migrants from the EU will be held in detention centers outside the EU. However, their applications must be processed by the Italian authorities. The detention centers are under Italian authority and guarded by Italian guards and police officers. And the plan is not without controversy. Italian police officers in place at the detention center in Gjader on 11 October. Photo: Florion Goga / Reuters Fears that other countries will be inspired – the Italy-Albania plan is a way of circumventing the asylum responsibility. It is yet another attempt to militarize the borders and abdicate responsibility for protecting people, Sea-Watch spokeswoman Giorgia Linardi told Reuters. She believes the aim is to avoid the migrants’ situation being monitored by the legal system and civil society organisations. Shengjin and Gjader are located on the coast in northern Albania. She also fears that more countries will follow suit. The UK is among the countries that have had plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. – This is a symptom of the general direction that the EU is taking, which in any case does not protect people, but rather towards the protection and securing of Europe’s borders, she emphasizes. news has asked Italy’s Ministry of the Interior for a response to the criticism. They have not yet responded. The Gjader prison is half an hour’s drive from the coast. Here, Albania can house tens of thousands of migrants who have made it to the EU in the years to come. Photo: Florion Goga / Reuters Amnesty International is also concerned that more countries will follow Italy’s lead. – We fear that other countries in Europe see this as a test pilot that can be imitated elsewhere, says Ileana Bello, the head of Amnesty in Italy, to Reuters. – Out of sight, out of mind. You don’t need to see and feel, and you don’t show people in Europe what is actually happening, she emphasizes. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNCHR, says it will monitor the scheme to ensure that the right to seek asylum is protected. Interested in abroad? Listen to the foreign affairs editor’s podcast: Published 16.10.2024, at 08.22 Updated 16.10.2024, at 08.35
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Italy sends migrants to Albania – the first time migrants to the EU are sent out of the EU – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
