Migrants are being shipped with the vessel "Libra" to new migrant centers in Albania, where they will be held while awaiting a decision on asylum. Migrants deemed to come from so-called "safe" countries will be quickly sent back there.
The idea is that the two centers east and northwest of the capital Tirana will receive up to 3,000 people who have tried to reach Italy and were picked up by Italian coastguards at sea.
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama and Italy's Giorgia Meloni signed the agreement on Italian migration management in November 2023. The agreement is valid for five years and will cost Italy around 160 million euros (approximately 1.8 billion Swedish kronor) annually.
The agreement has been criticized by human rights organizations, but has also sparked great curiosity among other EU countries.
