The first group of migrants rescued at sea while attempting to reach Europe via Italy arrived in Albania on Wednesday, marking a significant shift in the handling of Mediterranean migration, CNN reports.
The 16 men, consisting of 10 Bangladeshi and 6 Egyptian nationals, were rescued on Sunday from various migrant vessels that had departed from Libya days earlier.
This marked the first implementation of a new protocol signed between Italy and Albania last year, which allows Italy to transfer asylum seekers deemed “safe” to Albania for expedited processing. This designation prevents migrants from qualifying for political asylum in Italy, with few exceptions.
The men were vetted on an Italian Coast Guard vessel and then transferred to an Italian Navy vessel before being turned over to Albanian authorities in Shengjin. They will now undergo an expedited asylum application process in Albania, expected to be completed within a month, a stark contrast to the lengthy process in Italy.
This new scheme, designed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as a deterrent to migration, involves a video conference with an Italian judge for each case, with immigration lawyers provided in Albania. If asylum is denied, the migrants will be deported back to their countries of origin at Italy’s expense.
The initiative has drawn widespread criticism from human rights groups, who fear it will set a precedent for other nations to offload migrants to third-party countries with potentially weaker human rights regulations. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) called the scheme a “dark day for the EU’s asylum and migration policies” and expressed concern that it could be replicated elsewhere.
Meloni, however, defended the policy, stating that it reflects the “European spirit” and hopes it could serve as a model for other nations. She emphasized the need for a new approach to managing migration, arguing that the current system is unsustainable.
Since 2014, over a million migrants have reached Italy by sea from North African ports, according to Italian government statistics and UNHCR. The same route has also claimed the lives of over 30,500 individuals since then, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration.
