An Italian navy ship carrying a first batch of migrants intercepted in Italian waters and taken to Albania arrived in the Albanian port of Shengjin on Wednesday after more than 36 hours at sea, according to AFP journalists.
Shortly before 08.00 a.m., the Libra, carrying 16 men from Egypt and Bangladesh, entered the port, which was closed to journalists.
Once disembarked, the men were scheduled to be registered in prefabs set up by Italy in the port, before being taken 20 km further to a camp in the northwestern locality of Gjadër.
There, in 12 m2 prefabs surrounded by high walls and monitored by cameras and members of the Italian police force, they will be able to submit their asylum applications. If they are refused, they will be housed in cells set up in the camp, pending their return to their countries of origin.
This outsourcing of asylum applications, a first in Europe, was made possible by a controversial agreement signed between Rome and Tirana in November 2023. It has been condemned by numerous human rights NGOs as a violation of international rules.
The five-year agreement is estimated to cost Italy €160 million a year. It applies only to adult men intercepted by the Italian navy or coastguard in their search and rescue zone in international waters.
The procedure involves an initial check on a military vessel, before transfer to Shengjin for identification, and then to the former military base at Gjadër.
The centres are expected to have a capacity of 1,000 places initially, rising in the longer term to 3,000, figures that some believe do not justify the agreement.
