AlbaniaThe Constitutional Court has a controversial Agreement with Italy approved, which provides for the creation of two migrant centers on Albanian soil under Italian management. The court announced this on Monday. The agreement, signed by the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and his Albanian counterpart Ed Rama Signed in Rome in November, it provides for the reception of up to 3,000 migrants rescued by Italian ships per month.
People with special needs, such as the elderly, children or pregnant women, migrants and refugees rescued by ships managed by NGOs, as well as people disembarking directly on Italian soil, are excluded from the agreement. In December, the Albanian Constitutional Court suspended the Albanian Parliament's ratification of the agreement, pending a decision on the challenge to the plan.
➤ See more information: Italy wants to redirect migrants rescued from difficulties at sea to Albania in the future
Italian opposition: creation of a new Guantánamo
The two camps in Albania would be under Italian jurisdiction and operated by Italian personnel. In one of them, migrants will be checked upon arrival and, in the other, they will live while their asylum applications are processed.
The Italian opposition criticized the agreement with Albania as it considers it creates a new Guantánamo and allegedly violates the Italian constitution, which the government rejects. Some other EU countries described the agreement as a model that could be imitated.
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Since taking office in autumn 2022, the Italian government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has tried to curb irregular immigration by sea to Italy, which increased by around 50 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year. In 2023, 150,000 people arrived in southern Italy after sea journeys across the Mediterranean.