Albania’s top court approves plans to host Italian migrant centres
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Albania’s constitutional court has approved a controversial deal with Italy to host two holding centres for migrants rescued in Italian waters.
The agreement has been condemned by opposition parties in both countries, as well as human rights groups, and resulted in a legal challenge taken up by the top court in Tirana.
The court said in a statement: “The agreement does not harm Albania’s territorial integrity.”
Monday’s ruling comes just days after Italian MPs voted in favour of the agreement, with the lower chamber of the country’s parliament backing the protocol by 155 votes to 115, with two abstentions.
During a parliamentary debate, opposition MPs accused Georgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, of using migrants as “electoral propaganda” and said the project would have little impact on numbers and was hugely costly.
The deal now goes to the Italian senate, where it is also expected to be approved.
The accord allows for two centres to be established near the Albanian port of Shengjin, where migrants would register for asylum, along with a facility in the same region to house those awaiting a response to their applications.
‘Dangerous act for national security’
The two centres, which would be managed by Italy, can hold a maximum of 3,000 people at any one time as they await a decision on their claims. Their estimated cost is more than €650 million over the five-year term of the accord.
The Albanian Right-wing opposition has criticised Edi Rama, the country’s prime minister, for an alleged lack of transparency over the agreement, calling the deal an “irresponsible and dangerous act for national security”.
The International Rescue Committee, an NGO offering aid to refugees, also condemned the agreement as “dehumanising”, while Amnesty International described it as “illegal and unenforceable”.
Albanian authorities have said the agreement is in line with previous treaties signed with Italy, in accordance with international law and the country’s constitution.
Migrant centre ‘akin to embassy’
During an interview last month, Taulant Balla, Albania’s interior minister, told APF: “We are not selling a piece of land of Albania.
“We are offering this land to Italy like we usually do for example when we set up an embassy.”
Jurisdiction inside the camp would be Italian but the land would remain in Albanian hands, he added.
Italy will pay to build the two centres and necessary infrastructure, as well as expenses relating to the security and medical care of asylum seekers, according to Albanian authorities.
Meloni, the leader of the far-Right Brothers of Italy party, was elected to office in 2022 and pledged to stop migrant boats arriving from North Africa.
However, numbers have risen from around 105,000 migrant landings in 2022 to almost 158,000 in 2023, according to official figures.
