7 times more expensive than in Sicily. Italian centers for migrants in Albania are “inhuman and ineffective means”

The creation of Italian centers for migrants in Albania cost the Italian authorities seven times more than the establishment of a similar center in Sicily – according to the joint report of the Actionid Imby and the University of Bari, cited on Thursday by the Reuters agency.

The Italian government awarded contracts worth over 74 million euros for the construction of two centers in Albania, and the value of each place in Albanian centers was estimated at over 153,000. euro. The cost of a single place in a center in Sicily was about 21 thousand. euro – stated in the report.

It was also reported that last year Italy paid about 570 thousand. euro to an entity that runs Albanian centers, although they operated only five days and adopted 20 migrants at that time.

“Operation in Albania stands out as the most expensive, inhuman and ineffective remedy in the history of Italian migration policy,” it was written in the report.

Two centers in Albania for migrants saved at sea on their way to Italy were created by agreement of the rule of both countries. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni perceives cooperation with Albania as the foundation of his migration policy – noted Reuters.

Shortly after the program was launched in 2024, an objection to the sending of migrants to Albania was expressed by a court in Rome. Originally, the migrants saved in the sea were to go to Albanian centers, who had not yet managed to find themselves in the EU territory. The court, however, ordered to transport migrants sent to Albania three times, considering that they could not be outside the Union. At the end of March, the government adopted a decree, according to which illegal immigrants would be sent to Albania, who received an order to leave Italy after rejecting the asylum application, and the court approved their temporary stay in a special center.

According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, 110 people sent from Italy went to Albania from April to the end of June. Some of them were deported to the countries of origin through Italy, and some directly from Albania.

After the report was announced, the Opposition Democratic Party condemned the waste of public funds. “Giorgia Meloni must apologize to the Italians, because the amounts regarding her illegal operation in Albania are an insult to millions of people who barely make ends meet,” said the leader of the party Elly Schlein. (PAP)

JBW/ Kar/