Albania publishes details of Italy migrant deal as citizens remain divided

SHENGJIN, ALBANIA: The Albanian Media and Information Agency has published more details of the agreement between Albania and Italy that would see the creation of asylum seeker processing centres in the country, facilitating the applications of up to 36,000 individuals annually.

Albania and Italy announced the signing of a deal to process asylum seekers rescued from the Mediterranean by Italian vessels at two centres in northern Albania. 

The information published states that Italy can use areas of Albanian territory for the establishment of the structures envisaged under the agreement, at Italy’s expense. There will be a maximum limit of 3000 people sheltered at any one time, and Italy will also cover all of their expenses.

The agreement also states that the maximum stay for each individual cannot be longer than the time needed for the asylum procedure to be completed. At the end of the procedure, the Italian side facilitates the departure of the migrants from Albania at their own expense.

Meanwhile, locals in the coastal city of Shengjin, where one of the migrant centres will be established, are divided on the issue.

“It will bring problems. Shengjin is not a suitable destination for immigrants. It is a tourist destination that should be well managed for tourism,” said one resident, adding, “Tourism will be destroyed.”

Shengjin is a resort town with a winter population of just a few thousand people. But during the summer, its population increases tenfold, and more, as thousands of tourists from Kosovo, Albania, and other nearby countries visit, staying in apartments and hotels that line the 5km long shoreline.

In recent years, significant private investment has gone into improving the local tourism industry, with more plans to improve international transport links.

Other residents were upset they were not consulted on the move. “I don’t know where this idea came from, how can we accommodate 3000 people? No one asked us what we think, what we want,” a local taxi driver told Euractiv.

Another, the owner of a coffee shop said that while it might bring more work during the slower, off-season months, he has reservations. “We don’t know how long they will stay, if they stay, where will they live and work? Will they integrate? This is a very traditional area, we are proud of this,” he told Euractiv.

But not everyone was against it. Two local residents, both in their 20s said they approved of the initiative. “It is a great idea, Italy helped our family in the 90s, now we will help them.”

Meanwhile, the International Rescue Committee has also raised concerns over the idea, warning the deal is “dehumanising and strikes a further blow to the principle of solidarity which is fundamental to the creation of a functioning European asylum system.”

Italy Country Director at the IRC, Susanna Zanfrini said the Italian government’s plan to build reception centres for refugees and asylum seekers in Albania is a testament to its disproportionate focus on preventing people from arriving in the EU, rather than creating safe and legal avenues for those seeking refuge.

It also raises legal issues over “the application of Italian jurisdiction in Albania as it remains unclear how people on the move could access asylum and exercise their basic rights in a non-EU territory.”

“The notion of processing migrants used in the debate is also deeply dehumanising,” Zanfrini added.

Imogen Sudbery, the IRC senior director for European Advocacy said this is not the first time a member state has looked at this format for managing asylum applications, but “there are fundamental reasons why these past proposals have not gone ahead; the process of offshoring is beset with numerous flaws on moral, legal, and practical grounds.”

She added the deal also goes against any coherent EU approach to migration and strikes a further blow to the principle of solidarity “which lies at the heart of a functioning European asylum system.”

More than 145,000 people have come ashore in Italy in 2023, compared with around 88,000 in the same period in 2022. Meloni has promised to crack down on migration, but finding a solution has not been easy. Calls from the far-right Brothers of Italy party have demanded such facilities to be set up outside the European Union, proposing, for example, North Africa, but no country was willing to consider it.

Rama said Albania cannot solve Italy’s migrant problem but can assist and collaborate.

“We have a history of hospitality”, Rama underlined, recalling that Albania welcomed more than half a million war refugees and those fleeing to survive the ethnic cleansing by Serbia in Kosovo. “We also gave refuge to thousands of Afghan women when NATO abandoned Afghanistan and to a few thousand Iranians,” he said.

“We aim to be operational next spring,” Meloni said, adding that Albanian police will guarantee “the security and external surveillance of the structures.”

But the move has not sat well with everyone in Tirana.

Member of the Presidency of the opposition Democratic Party, Belind Kellici, has opposed the agreement, stating it was taken “without parliamentary discussion, without political consensus, without public analysis and transparency, without giving any details about the signed agreement, without asking anyone.”

He added Tunisia had recently rejected the same offer from Italy and called it “treason against Albania” and a “disloyalty to our country.” He said that tens of thousands of young people leave the country every year while Rama “replaces them with illegal immigrants.”

Other concerns raised include giving Italy sovereignty on Albanian soil and how any repatriation can happen from Albania without bilateral agreements.

The EU Commission has confirmed it knew about the deal but has not seen the details. It also warned it must be in line with national, international and EU law.

(Alice Taylor | Euractiv.com)