SHENGJIN, Albania — (AP) — An Italian navy ship docked Friday at the Albanian port of Shengjin with eight migrants who will be processed there after they were intercepted in international waters, a month after another group was turned away for failing the vetting process.
It is only the second transfer of migrants since two migrant processing centers started operating in October under a deal sealed between Italy and Albania.
The agreement allows up to 3,000 migrants intercepted by the Italian coast guard in international waters each month will be sheltered in Albania, and vetted for possible asylum in Italy or be sent back to their countries.
Italy has agreed to welcome those migrants who are granted asylum, while those whose applications are rejected face deportation directly from Albania.
The same Italian naval ship used on Friday transferred the first 16 migrants to Albania from Bangladesh and Egypt on Oct. 16. Four were taken to Italy the same day because they were minors or had health issues. Twelve others were brought back to Italy three days later, following a ruling by Rome judges who rejected their detention because their countries of origin weren't safe enough for them to be sent back.
The naval ship Libra, which can carry 200 people besides crew, left Italy's southernmost island of Lampedusa on Wednesday with eight men on board, according to the Italian media. Italian Interior Ministry spokesperson Francesco Kamel had confirmed the Libra was heading to Albania, but declined to give out any further information until the operation was complete. He didn't say when it would arrive, nor how many people were on board.
Eight migrants in black-and-purple sportswear were seen walking out of the ship, accompanied by Italian Carabinieri, police and other officials at the reception center. After being screened there, they will be taken to the Gjader center, about 22 kilometers (14 miles) to the east.
The Italian media reported that out of 1,200 migrant arrivals on Lampedusa over the past two days, just eight male adults traveling without families met Albania's screening criteria, including that they come from countries deemed “safe” for repatriation.
There is no clarification from the Italian Interior Ministry on the nationality of the migrants. Nongovernmental organizations refer to them as coming from Bangladesh and Egypt.
The number of people reaching Italy along the central Mediterranean migration route — mainly from Bangladesh, Syria, Tunisia and Egypt — has fallen by 60% in 2024 compared to 2023. As of Nov. 7, according to the Italian Interior Ministry, 57,767 migrants have arrived by sea in 2024.
A court ruling out of Rome had shortened the list of countries considered "safe" by law, meaning that Rome can repatriate migrants from those countries who didn't win asylum using a fast-track procedure. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni slammed the Rome court ruling, and said that deeming countries such as Bangladesh and Egypt unsafe means that virtually all migrants would be barred from the Albania program, making it unworkable.
On Oct. 21, Italy's far-right government approved a new decree aimed at overcoming those judicial hurdles that risked derailing the contentious five-year migration deal with Albania, signed in 2023 by Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama.
The agreement to outsource the housing of asylum-seekers to a non-European Union member country, defended by Meloni as a new model to handle illegal migration, has been hailed by some countries which like Italy are experiencing a high level of migrant arrivals.
“There’s still an extraordinary interest and some positive attention (on the Albanian migration deal) and there was also a bit of curiosity on this debate over safe countries,” Meloni on Friday told reporters in Budapest during the European Political Community summit.
“Reading some court rulings, it looks that there are no safe countries at all ... that would compromise any possibility of managing or blocking mass illegal immigration,” Meloni said.
Visiting Albania in October, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen refused to give her opinion of the agreement, saying only that it was being closely monitored.
Human rights groups and nongovernmental organizations that are active in the Mediterranean have slammed the agreement as a dangerous precedent that conflicts with international laws.
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Llazar Semini reported from Tirana. Colleen Barry in Milan, and Giada Zampano and Patricia Thomas in Rome, contributed to this report.
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