Italy formally opens centres in Albania to process male migrants intercepted in international waters

(11 Oct 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Shengjin, Albania - 11 October 2024
1. Various drone footage of the center at the Shengjin port ++MUTE++
2. Main entrance of the center with Italian police officers
3. Second set of security doors
4. The main square in the middle of the center
5. Various of doors to offices
6. Various of welcoming hall for the new migrants
7. High shot of the square and the offices
8. Security cameras and loudspeaker
9. A police officer at the security room
10. Police and army officers
11. Employees of the center
12. High shots of police officers
13. Sign saying “Hotspot Shengjin" referring to a medical area
14. Various of the medical centre
15. Second floor offices
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gjader, Albania - 11 October 2024
16. Various drone shots of the accommodation center in Gjader ++MUTE++
17. Entrance to the center
18. Exterior of centre
19. Various of centre and police officers
20. Various of migrant's room and bathroom
21. Exterior of rooms
22. Various of Italian police officers and other officials walking around centre
23. Various of exterior of rooms and outdoor space
24. Inside of a bedroom
25. Security cameras
26. Various of exterior of prison cells
27. Various of inside cells
28. Medical centre
29. Various of courtroom
30. Inside a detention cell
31. Drone view of the Gjader center ++MUTE++
STORYLINE:
Italy's government on Friday formally opened two centers in Albania where it plans to process male migrants who are intercepted in international waters.
The opening was delayed for several months because of consolidation work of the crumbling soil for the foundations at one center.
Italian Ambassador to Albania Fabrizio Bucci said the two centers are ready to process migrants, but could not say when the first ones would arrive.
“As of today, the two centers are ready and operational,” Bucci told journalists at the port of Shengjin on Albania's Adriatic coast where the migrants will land.
The centers have capacity to accommodate up to 400 illegal migrants as a start, expected to increase to 880 in a few weeks, according to Italian officials, speaking off the record.
Under a five-year deal signed last November by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, up to 3,000 migrants picked up by the Italian coast guard in international waters each month will be sheltered in Albania.
They will be screened initially on board the ships that rescue them before being sent to Albania for further screening.
The two centers will cost Italy 670 million euros ($730 million) over five years. The facilities will be run by Italy and are under Italian jurisdiction, while Albanian guards will provide external security.
The first center, an area in Shengjin, 66 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of the capital, Tirana, will be used for screening newcomers.
Housing units, a small hospital, a detention center and offices at the port are surrounded by a metal fence 5 meters (16 feet) high and topped with barbed wire.
The other center, about 22 kilometers (14 miles) to its east near a former military airport in Gjader, will accommodate migrants during the processing of their asylum requests in a roughly 17-acre (7-hectare) site.
The logistics part of the personnel was divided with 5-meter (yard) high barbed wire fences from the administrative offices, the area where those not granted asylum would stay and the bigger accommodation area, including a spot of penitentiary with 20-bed cells.
The Gjader center has capacity for 3,000 beds.
Families will not be separated.
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[@selflesssamaritan6417]

Modern problems require modern final solutions.

[@hassanmalam9350]

Great

[@patriciaoreilly8907]

Italy 🇮🇹 protecting its country & Citizens 😊

[@rep.ofe.a.304]

Italy is protecting nothing. It's just unconsciously postponing an inevitable end of its future...a future in which Italy is doomed to be crushed by foreigners.

[@louisedussiaux8944]

Great news let's hope the uk take noticed