Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that planned Italian reception centers for non-EU migrants in Albania will be able to start operating from August. Nearly seven months after the signing of the migration agreement between Italy and Albania, Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, announced today in Shengjin the completion of the camp in the coastal city.
According to the plan, this will accommodate boat migrants for the first time and conduct an initial assessment of refugees' asylum opportunities. However, the second camp in Gadir is not ready yet.
Controversial in Italy and Albania
According to the plans, people previously transported by the Italian authorities on board the ship at sea will be brought to both camps. The project targets migrants who set out on boats across the central Mediterranean to Italy. Italy is one of the countries particularly affected by the movement of refugees from Africa to Europe across the Mediterranean. Tens of thousands of people get there every year. Meloni took office in the fall of 2022 with a promise to dramatically reduce numbers.
According to plans, the two facilities in Shengjin and Gajadir will be able to accommodate about 36,000 people annually. The project is controversial in both Italy and Albania.
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