Italy to build two centres in Albania to host tens of thousands of illegal migrants: Giorgia Meloni

Italy will build two centres in Albania to host tens of thousands of illegal migrants, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said. She announced the plan at a news conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in Rome. Ms Meloni said the centres due to open next spring will be able to process up to 36,000 people a year. The plan will apply to migrants rescued at sea by Italian boats, and not to those who arrive on Italian shores. 

The migrants will stay in the centres while Italy examines their asylum requests, Ms Meloni said, adding that the plan would not apply to pregnant women, children and vulnerable people. She said the structures which will be built at Italy's expense would be able to accommodate 3,000 people each month for the time necessary to quickly process asylum applications and, if necessary, for repatriation.

The centres will be built at the port of Shengjin and the Gjader



area in north-west Albania. Security personnel and police officers will be provided by Albania.

Ms Meloni said that, although Albania is not an EU member state, it is already behaving like one. She added that she believes "Albania is, for all intents and purposes, a European country" and stated her support for Albania's entry into the EU.

Speaking in Italian, Mr Rama used warm words to describe his country's relationship with Italy, saying that Italy's citizens and institutions had helped Albanians in the 1990s after the fall of the Communist regime. This debt cannot be repaid, Mr Rama said. But if Italy calls, Albania responds. Opposition politicians in both Italy and Albania have criticised the agreement.

However, more than 145,000 migrants have entered Italy this year - 52,000 more than the same period in 2021.