Albania is accelerating the construction of reception centers for migrants rescued in Italian waters. A project strongly criticized by NGOs and Brussels.
ADVERTISEMENTIt is one of the great symbols of Italian migration policy. Albania is accelerating the construction of detention centers for migrants rejected from Italy. Two of them should open at the beginning of August. Operated by the Italian authorities themselves, they could accommodate 36,000 people rescued at sea each year while their asylum applications are being studied.
A project supported by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart Edi Rama, but also strongly criticized by many human rights NGOs and in Brussels.
The agreement was judged “outside European Union law” by former European Commissioner Ylva Johannson. Italian opposition MPs have also denounced the project as too costly, as it is expected to cost more than 600 million euros over the next five years.
However, around fifteen member states of the European Union, such as Finland, Austria, Greece and Poland, are calling for a more rapid transfer of migrants to countries outside the European Union, including during sea rescue operations.
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