Italy Opens Migrant Center In Albania Amid Controversy Over 'Outsourcing Asylum'

The Italian government has officially opened two migrant centers in Albania that can accommodate up to 3,000 people.

Italian Ambassador to Albania Fabrizio Vucchi visited a migrant center in the port of Shenjin in northwest Albania on the 11th local time and said, "The two centers will be prepared and operated from today."

It also added that while the two centers are ready to handle migrants, it is not known when the first migrants will arrive.

Earlier, on November 6 last year, Meloni and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama signed a migrant agreement in Rome with the main theme of "transferring rescued migrants to Albania" and "establishing a migrant center in Albania through Italian finance."

As a result, a facility to accommodate migrants will be built at the port of Shenjin until the results of the asylum application review, which takes up to 28 days, and migrants who are subject to repatriation will be sent to the Jader Center 20km away from Shenjin.

With a capacity of up to 3,000 people, Italy expects to be able to process 36,000 asylum claims a year in Albania.

Italy sends only adult men to Albania among migrants rescued in the Mediterranean, while vulnerable people such as women, children and the elderly are housed in Italy.

Italy plans to spend 670 million euros on the two centers over five years and 989.6 billion won in our money.

Mr. Meloni won power in an early general election in September 2022 with a pledge to block the influx of illegal migrants, even by blocking the coast.

Meloni argues that the "Albanian model" is an innovative solution to the problem of illegal migrants that has plagued the EU for years.

International human rights groups, on the other hand, fear that "outsourcing asylum" could spread to other European countries.