Italian Navy Ship Transfers Migrants to Albania

An Italian navy vessel made a significant docking at the Albanian port of Shengjin on Friday, transporting eight migrants. This transfer comes approximately one month after a prior group of migrants was denied entry due to an unsuccessful vetting process. The newly arrived group will now undergo asylum processing before being relocated to the repatriation center in Gjader.

This marks only the second transfer of migrants since the establishment of two migrant processing centers in Albania, which began operations in October. Notably, the same Italian navy ship was responsible for transferring the initial group of 16 migrants, who hailed from Bangladesh and Egypt. Out of this initial group, four individuals, identified as minors or those with health complications, were returned to Italy on the very same day. The remaining twelve migrants were brought back to Italy three days later, following a ruling by judges in Rome who deemed their detention inappropriate due to the unsafe conditions in their home countries.

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This judicial ruling has significantly impacted the list of countries considered “safe” under legal standards, allowing the Italian government to expedite the repatriation of migrants from these nations who do not qualify for asylum. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticized the decision, arguing that labeling countries like Bangladesh and Egypt as unsafe effectively undermines the Albania program, as it would exclude a vast majority of migrants from being processed there.

Interestingly, the number of migrants arriving in Italy via the central Mediterranean route — predominantly from nations such as Bangladesh, Syria, Tunisia, and Egypt — has seen a dramatic reduction of 60% in 2024 compared to the previous year. As of November 7, according to data from the Italian Interior Ministry, a total of 57,767 migrants have reached Italy by sea in 2024.