Italy outsources first asylum procedures to Albania
Italy has sent a first ship with intercepted migrants to Albania. The asylum claims of the 16 men from Egypt and Bangladesh will be reviewed in a fast-track procedure in migrant centres there. Under an agreement reached between Rome and Tirana last year, up to 3,000 refugees will be sent to Albania. Commentators look at what this means for Europe.
Buttressing of fortress Europe
La Vanguardia sees this as a turning point for Europe as a whole:
“The EU Commission wants to tighten deportation regulations and is promoting the controversial model that Italy has agreed with Albania as an 'innovative solution' to migration. ... Von der Leyen is pushing for agreements with 'safe third countries' like the deals with Tunisia and Egypt, and has set her sights on Libya, Algeria and Mauritania. The EU has had an agreement with Turkey since 2016. ... The shift towards tougher measures is also reflected in the decisions more and more countries are taking. From border controls in France and Germany to the temporary suspension of asylum rights in Finland and Poland, the rejection of migration is sweeping across Europe.”
Evidence of Europe's powerlessness
The Italian model must not become a role model, warns the Süddeutsche Zeitung:
“Anyone who sees the pictures of the main camp in the village of Gjadër, where people are now locked away for months until their fate is decided, can only shudder. Europe has become used to refugee centres in which people have to live for long periods with no secure prospects, but this is on another level entirely. The tightly sealed-off camp looks like a high-security prison for dangerous criminals. Brand new, but unwelcoming, cold and heartless. The words of the Italian interior minister sound like mockery: there's no barbed wire here. Albania cannot be the solution. It is graphic evidence of Europe's powerlessness and inhumanity.”
At the taxpayers' expense
La Repubblica accuses Rome of acting like a colonialist power towards Albania:
“Since the times when Galeazzo Ciano was foreign minister [in Mussolini's government] the land of eagles has exerted an irresistible fascination on the Italian right, which can now boast that it has once again Italianised a small piece of the country on the other side of the Adriatic. But this return to old colonialism comes at the expense of Italian taxpayers, of course. ... The opposition says it will cost a billion euros, while a research centre puts the figure at 600-650 million for a deal intended to last ten years. If [Finance] Minister Giorget wants advice on cutting unnecessary costs in his spending review, he could turn his binoculars towards Tirana.”
Society is becoming brutalised
El País is appalled:
“For a few months now people have been able to say any nonsense they like about immigrants without anyone batting an eyelid. We've even heard that the Meloni method works and that it should be replicated in Spain. Really? Italy has done nothing but obstruct the rescue of immigrants stranded at sea, close its own ports to divert the crossing routes in the direction of the Canary Islands and set up migrant centres in neighbouring Albania. ... Neighbouring countries that have even less scruples than we do when it comes to human rights are making deals to become thankless and violent waiting rooms. ... The result of our indifference will be a more violent and cruel society.”