Politics Italian refugee camps: First migrants arrive in Albania

An Italian naval vessel with a group of 16 migrants has reached the port of Shengjin in Albania, according to media reports. This was reported by the Ansa news agency and the Albanian news channel TV Klan, among others.

Images showed the ship docking in the Adriatic port. The people from Egypt and Bangladesh are the first migrants whose asylum applications are to be processed on Albanian soil as part of the controversial agreement between Rome and Tirana. There was initially no official confirmation of the arrival.

After months of delay, the refugee camps set up and run by Italy in Shengjin and Gjader officially opened on Friday. They had originally been scheduled to open in May. Rome wants to examine some asylum applications there extraterritorially in a fast-track procedure and process deportations more quickly. Those who are entitled to asylum will be transferred to Italy, while those who are not entitled will be sent back to their countries of origin after their stay in Albania.

The people are expected to be brought to the camp located directly at the port of Shengjin later today for an initial check. According to the plans of the Italian right-wing government, they will then be transferred to the camp in Gjader in the interior of the country, where an accelerated asylum procedure will be carried out to clarify their status.