The Constitutional Court of Albania approved on Tuesday an agreement with Italy to establish migrant processing centers under Italian jurisdiction in Albania, allowing migrants saved by Italian ships at sea to be sent to Albania. These centers will be jointly accommodating up to 3,000 detained migrants at any given time.
By the end of October 2022, more than 85,000 individuals had reached Italy by sea, according to Human Rights Watch. They noted that the lack of sufficient facilities and fast transfers led to the repeated congestion of the reception center in Lampedusa, Italy in 2022.
Multiple international human rights groups, including the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Amnesty International (AI), have voiced opposition to the agreement. The IRC described the deal as “costly, cruel and counterproductive,” while AI stated the agreement was “illegal, unworkable” and insisted it must be eliminated.
Amnesty International urged Italian lawmakers to reject the agreement on January 22nd. AI Migration and Asylum Researcher Matteo de Bellis said that Italian MPs should rather uphold measures to guarantee appropriate reception in Italy, access to an effective procedure for asylum and safe, regular pathways.
The principle of non-refoulement, which is prohibited under international refugee law and European law, involves directing an individual to a country where they are at risk of human rights infringements. These principles are enshrined in Article 78(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Articles 18 and 19 of the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The European Court of Human Rights has previously criticized Italy for infringing this principle in the 2012 case of Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy.