The first ship of the Italian Navy with migrants on board set sail on Monday from Lampedusa bound for the newly inaugurated Albanian internment and repatriation centera country that is not a member of the European Union. A two-day trip to transport 16 people (ten Egyptians and six Bangladeshis) and which represents the culmination of the Italian Prime Minister’s Government plan, Giorgia Melonito alleviate immigration pressure in their country.
When they arrive, expected this Tuesday, the castaways – rescued from the high seas off the Italian coast over the weekend – will have to wait in the centers while their asylum applications are examined. It could take several months. Migrants traveling on the military ship Pound have been subjected to a first on-board check to verify that they meet the requirements stipulated by the Italian Ministry of the Interior: come from safe countriesthey are men and “not vulnerable.”
The objective of the Italian authorities is to speed up procedures in the centers of Schengjin and Gjaderwhose installation is the result of a controversial agreement between Rome and Tirana that outsources on Albanian soil the management of asylum applications and possible repatriation of people rescued in the Mediterranean who seek to reach Italy. It is the first agreement of its kind between a European country and a non-EU country.
The center: with beds and medical room
Last Friday, Albanian television showed images of the center of Gjadër, in northwest Albania, which in addition to accommodations with bedshas an operational medical room, an analysis laboratory, a room with instruments for radiography and ultrasound, and another for psychological and psychiatric visits.
“The agreement stipulates that migrants cannot leave the facilities and roam freely in Albania,” explained Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama about the pact between the two countries. highly criticized by the Italian opposition and humanitarian organizations that rescue migrants, although several European governments have shown interest in replicating the initiative.
Despite the criticism, the truth is that in the heart of the European Union This agreement seems to have been taken as an example. This Tuesday, the president of the European Commission, Úrsula von der Leyen, said she was willing to study the creation of migrant retention centers outside the EU.
This was announced in a letter to European leaders in which he proposed a 10-point action plan to address the migration crisis.
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