Dozens of Italian police and social workers deployed by Italy’s far-right government to Albanian migrant centers have returned home, after it emerged that the facilities, hailed by the right as a model for reducing arrivals of refugees, had been empty for weeks.
A little more than a month after the publicized opening of Albanian detention centers for asylum seekers, valued at several million dollars and supposed to accommodate up to 3,000 people per month, more than 50 police officers have been transferred to Italy two weeks ago, while dozens of social workers left this weekend, their presence in Albania deemed “unnecessary”.
Since their opening on October 11, only 24 asylum seekers have been sent to the centers in Albania, with the aim of repatriating them to their country of origin. Five spent less than 12 hours in a detention center, while the others stayed just over 48 hours.
They were all transferred to Italy after Italian judges ruled it illegal to detain them in Albania before repatriating them to countries, such as Bangladesh and Egypt, considered “safe” by Rome.
The judges thus confirmed an October 4 judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), according to which a country not belonging to the bloc could only be declared safe if its entire territory was considered safe. .
As a result, the centers, touted by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as a new model for establishing processing and detention centers for asylum seekers outside the EU, have been empty for more than of a month.
At a time when the government is struggling to balance the budget by reducing funds for education, health and social security, opposition parties have called the plan, which will cost around 1 billion euros over five years, of “financial disaster”.
“Mission accomplished,” said Riccardo Magi, president of the center-left Più Europa (More Europe) party. “The government has succeeded in its repatriation efforts. Immigrants? No, Italian workers sent to Albania, who will return home this weekend. The government first squandered huge sums of public money, then, with the centers empty, it repatriated some police officers to Italy, and now even social workers are returning home. “It’s a historic failure.”
This project sparked a conflict between the government and judges, accused by far-right parties of obstructing the project.
Nicola Gratteri, Naples’ chief prosecutor and one of Italy’s most influential magistrates, said in a television interview this week: “We must stop attacking magistrates just because we don’t like a decision.” I don’t want to make a political judgment, but I say that right now in Albania there are 250 law enforcement officers doing almost nothing. It is a waste to keep 250 police officers on duty in Albania, which is why I think they should be sent back to Italy, where we are facing a staff shortage of several thousand police officers.”
The government said centers in Albania “will remain open and operational” and that transfers to Italy were made based on staffing needs.
However, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s credibility is at stake after she placed immigration at the center of her election campaign. In the past, he has criticized his predecessors for spending public money to manage the migration crisis. The sea transport on an Italian military ship of just eight men who arrived in Albania over a weekend in mid-November cost 250,000 euros, or more than 31,000 euros per asylum seeker on board.
Elisabetta Piccolotti, MP for the Alliance of Greens and Left, said: “The government failed knowing it would fail. They spent a mountain of money and played with the rights of the people. “This will go down in history as a shameful page for our country.”
