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Far from illustrating "a model to follow", the visit showed once again that Meloni's government does not have a reasonable or humane approach to migration.
The visit of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to the Albanian port of Shengjin on June 5 shows the folly of Italy's scheme to send migrants and asylum seekers caught in the Mediterranean Sea to Albania. Amid spiraling costs, delays and serious human rights concerns, the plan is emerging as an example of how not to manage migration.
The agreement, agreed last November, commits Italy to set up a processing center in the port of Shengjin, a reception center for asylum seekers with 880 places, as well as a detention center with 144 places. The reception and detention centers will be in Gjadër municipality.
Italy says it will send to Albania only migrants from countries it designates as "safe" to undergo an expedited asylum procedure, followed by swift deportation for those denied protection. But some countries so designated are not "safe" for everyone: there are documented cases of torture and other serious human rights violations in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Cameroon.
It remains a mystery how Italy will guarantee a fair asylum procedure and judicial review of detention in another country.
Meloni says that the centers, initially planned to become operational in May, will be ready by August. Construction costs have risen by more than €25 million, while the overall budget for running the scheme over the next five years, according to the government, is €670 million (others say it will cost up to €850 million).
Italy's government recently opened a bid for private contractors outlining how they plan to implement the deal. It wants a private boat for 300 people (200 migrants and 100 staff) to take people directly from Italian state ships at sea, south of the Italian island of Lampedusa. Then they will be transferred to Albania. The operating budget for three months, starting from mid-September, is 13.5 million euros. It remains unclear how, where and by whom the assessments will be made to determine who among the rescued should be sent to Albania.
Far from illustrating "a model to follow", the visit showed once again that Meloni's government does not have a reasonable or humane approach to migration. The Italy-Albania deal is costly, puts people's rights at risk and is likely to prevent people from crossing the Mediterranean by boat. It's a bad idea that keeps getting worse./ ReliefWeb
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