Offshoring scheme: Italy starts migrant centre in Albania

Italy, which receives the most migrant arrivals in the European Union, is partially outsourcing the challenge starting today by opening the first of two planned camps in neighboring Albania. These centers will accommodate up to 3,000 migrants per month rescued en route to Italy as part of Europe’s first “offshoring” scheme, while the continent grapples with the challenge of irregular migration.

The camp opening today is located in the northern Albanian port of Shengjin. The second center for offshoring scheme, planned on a former air force base in nearby Gjader, has been delayed. The Italian government, which funded the construction, will entirely manage these structures. They will house migrants picked up in international waters – excluding women, children, or those deemed vulnerable.

Once there, migrants can request asylum in Italy. If refused, they will be sent back to countries deemed safe. “Italian and European legislation will be applied in these centers,” said Fabrizio Bucci, Italy’s ambassador in Albania. “It’s like having a center in Italy – but in Albania.”

The offshoring scheme agreement between the Italian and Albanian Prime Ministers will last for five years, with an option to extend if it successfully reduces Italy’s migrant burden and deters some from attempting to come. Sea arrivals in Italy this year – around 31,000 so far – are down by more than half from the same period in 2023.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who campaigned on a platform of tough migration policies, has made the Albania plan a key component. However, the estimated €650 million (£547) cost has drawn criticism from Italian opposition politicians and human rights groups.

“It’s an excessive cost to detain a limited number of migrants,” said Riccardo Magi, an MP with the left-wing +Europa party. When Meloni recently visited the site in Albania, he protested and was grabbed by Albanian security officials. Meloni intervened, and he shouted, “If they treat an elected MP like this, imagine how they’ll treat the migrants.”

Speaking to the media, Magi compared the structures to a penal colony and expressed doubts about the ability of night-time rescuers to properly screen those picked up to ensure no vulnerable individuals are sent to Albania. “They won’t be able to delve deep into whether somebody has suffered torture or sexual violence or discrimination due to their sexuality back in Africa,” he said.

“It’s all an attempt at dissuasion and a PR show to tell Italians this is the first time a government can keep migrants out. But nobody who has risked their life to cross to Italy will be discouraged.”

Fabrizio Bucci disagrees. “It’s one of the elements that migrants and smugglers will have to factor in,” he said. “What do we have to lose? We’ve been trying to redistribute migrants throughout the EU and it hasn’t worked. So why not try to chart a new way?” He refers to it as an experiment that, if successful, could be replicated.

Indeed, 15 EU members, led by Denmark, recently wrote an open letter to the European Commission backing the outsourcing of migration. Sir Keir Starmer praised the Italy-Albania offshoring scheme after meeting both Prime Ministers.

The deal has drawn comparisons with the UK’s plan to deport failed asylum seekers to Rwanda, which was abandoned by Starmer. However, the agreements are significantly different. While Rwanda would have managed the asylum requests and centers under its deal, giving successful claimants asylum there and deporting failed ones to third countries deemed safe by the Rwandan government, the Albania deal will be under Italian jurisdiction.

“We made sure the Albanian legislation was already in full compliance with EU and international laws,” said Ambassador Bucci.

For Albania, the reward is a boost to its image as it negotiates European Union membership. However, Vladimir Karaj, a Tirana-based journalist with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, said it was a “complete surprise” when announced by Prime Minister Edi Rama. Before the Rwanda deal, there were reports that Britain was aiming for an agreement with Albania, which Rama forcefully shot down.

“He claimed he was strictly against this kind of treatment for refugees,” Karaj said. “So when Albania struck the deal with Italy, there was huge speculation over what Rama was gaining personally.”

Karaj says there’s no “smoking gun”: “The government’s narrative is that Italy is our best friend and took in Albanians when our dictatorship fell in the 1990s.” The deal, he said, has faced only short-lived protests by some who claim it aims to replace Albanians with foreigners or give away territory to Italy.

He suspects other countries may now come knocking on Albania’s door. “Albania needs the support it can get from the west,” he said. “If western governments like the UK or Germany see this as a solution, I don’t think Rama’s words about it just being for Italy will be that easy to sell.”