Giorgia Meloni’s plan to use detention centres in Albania has faced numerous legal challenges and human rights criticism.Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has doubled down on her government’s plans to send migrants and asylum seekers to detention centres in Albania, despite opposition from Italian judges and the European Union’s top court.Speaking at a summit in Rome alongside Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Meloni said her right-wing government was “determined” to forge ahead with its scheme of sending migrants and asylum seekers outside the EU while their claims are processed.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“Certainly, the protocol will work when the new [EU] migration and asylum pact comes into effect,” Meloni said on Thursday, citing a legal framework slated for 2026.“When the migration and asylum pact comes into effect, the centres will operate exactly as they should have from the beginning.”In a separate deal approved by the Albanian Parliament in February 2024, Albania agreed to hold up to 3,000 migrants and asylum seekers at any one time in two Italian-run processing centres located near the port of Shengjin.Under the plan at the time, the migrants and asylum seekers would be held for periods of about a month. It was expected that up to 36,000 people a year could be sent from Italian custody to Albania over an initial period of five years.According to the deal, people would be screened initially on board the ships that rescue them before being sent to Albania for further screening.The centres were meant to be operated under Italian law with Italian security and staff. Italian jud …
