By Giada Zampano
ROME (AA) - Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday visited the new Shengjin migrant hotspot in Albania as part of an agreement between Tirana and Rome to operate two centres for asylum seekers on Albanian territory.
The facility in Shengjin, now completed and passed under Italian management, is at about 70 kilometres from Tirana and will be used as a first reception center for migrants and refugees rescued by Italian ships in international waters.
Women, children, and anyone categorized as “vulnerable” would be exempt.
The second center in Gjader, 80 kilometers north of the Albanian capital, is still in the works and will be dedicated to the detention of migrants during the processing of their asylum requests.
“The two structures will be operational from Aug. 1,” Meloni told a joint press conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Once fully operational, they will provide for the reception and processing of up to 3,000 migrants per month, aiming to scale up their capacity to process 36,000 migrants a year.
Meloni responded to criticism over the costs related to the centers, estimated at around €670 million ($728 million) over the first five years, saying that the whole plan will save in Italy about €136 million a year.
The agreement, signed by Meloni and Rama in Rome in November, is a part of the far-right government’s bid to deter irregular migration by sea to Italy.
The Italian center-left opposition has slammed the Albania deal as creating a new “Guantanamo” prison and allegedly breaching the Italian Constitution, violating basic human rights.
The deal marks the first time an EU country has outsourced its asylum procedures to a country attempting to join its ranks.
Meloni says the centers, operated under the Italian jurisdiction, are “in full compliance with the European Union and international law."