Milan, Italy, 24 July 2024 —  As the first Italian detention centres in Albania are due to be opened on August 1, 2024, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) highlights the risks associated with the scheme and urges the EU and its member states not to use this dangerous model as a blueprint for their own approaches to asylum and migration. 

The IRC has raised multiple concerns about Italy’s migration agreement which foresees people rescued at sea by Italian ships would be transferred to de facto detention centres in Albania, warning that that this approach is "costly, cruel, and counterproductive," and is likely to push people who are seeking safety onto more dangerous routes.  

Under this agreement, Italy plans to send up to 36,000 people each year to have their asylum claims processed in Albania. The government has said that “children, pregnant women and other vulnerable individuals” will not be deported to Albania, but there are currently no guarantees or safeguards in place to identify these groups and ensure they are exempted. 

Flaminia Delle Cese, Legal and Advocacy Adviser with IRC Italy, said: 

“The Italian centres for asylum seekers in Albania should not exist in the first place. Moving people to closed centres away from EU soil jeopardises the basic human right to seek asylum, effectively detaining individuals for their attempts to find a safe haven and protection. 

“There is still a lot of uncertainty about how the people in most need, who in theory should not be placed in these centres, will be identified. Survivors of trafficking or torture, unaccompanied children or people with disabilities are among the many vulnerable individuals who might slip under the radar. We are concerned that this initiative is doomed to result in a situation where large groups of people in need spend extended periods in detention without access to specialised assistance, unable to exercise their rights. 

“International organisations and human rights monitors should be allowed unimpeded access to the centres to monitor the situation, and ensure that asylum seekers have access to the internet, information and in-person legal assistance. It's essential to find humane and sustainable solutions that protect people seeking asylum while respecting their rights.” 

Marta Welander, EU Advocacy Director, added: 

“The opening of these centres in Albania is nothing to celebrate - it’s a step in the completely wrong direction, away from a Europe that upholds the right to asylum, and towards even greater suffering at EU borders. We know that such policies of deterrence do not stop people from risking their lives to reach safety in Europe. While the number of people crossing the Central Mediterranean to Italy dropped in the first quarter of 2024, the total attempting to reach Europe via other sea routes rose. These schemes do not prevent people seeking protection - they only push them onto more treacherous journeys.”  

“As the EU embarks on a new five-year mandate, it is vital that policymakers recognise the stark dangers of Italy’s approach, rather than using it as a blueprint for the bloc’s future asylum policies. The IRC is instead calling on the EU and all of its member states to uphold people’s fundamental right to asylum, work together to relocate people away from Europe’s southernmost states, and to scale up safe routes so people are not forced to risk their lives on dangerous journeys in the first place.”