Italy approves plan to expand use of Albanian processing centres for migrants
In a separate decree, the government also toughened rules to obtain Italian citizenship.
Italy’s government approved a decree that expands the use of Albanian fast-track asylum processing centres to include repatriation hubs, in line with a recent EU proposal.
Under the new decree, the two centres in Albania, originally aimed at processing non-vulnerable migrants rescued in international waters, will now also house migrants who arrived in Italy, had their asylum request rejected and received a deportation order.
In a separate decree, the government also toughened rules to obtain Italian citizenship.
The Albanian centres have remained substantially inactive since their opening in October, due to legal hurdles and amid wide opposition from human rights associations, which believe they violate international laws and put migrants’ rights at risk.
The project, which has cost nearly 800 million euros over a five-year investment ,has been a disappointment for the conservative government led by premier Giorgia Meloni.
After longer than expected construction work, the first three groups of migrants transferred there in October, November and January were sent back to Italy only a few hours later, after Italian magistrates refused to validate their detention in the non-EU country.
