One year after the agreement between Italy and Albania to set up migrant reception centers, the balance is much lower than expected. According to the latest report by the Migration and Asylum Roundtable (TAI) and after an inspection by Italian opposition MPs, only 25 migrants are currently staying in the Gjader center – a figure far from the target of 35,000 people per year, which was announced by the Italian government when the protocol between Giorgia Meloni and Edi Rama was signed.
Italian MEPs Rachele Scarpa, Matteo Orfini (PD) and Riccardo Magi (+Europa), who recently visited the center, called the project “a complete failure.” “The center that was supposed to house over 30,000 migrants a year only had 25. They are sent from Italian centers without any criteria and a few days later they return to Italy,” said Orfini, adding that even the Italian domestic centers are not even full.
From the beginning, the Italy-Albania agreement was considered fragile and has been called into question by several court decisions that have suspended transfers to Gjader and Shëngjin. The attempt to transform these centers into structures similar to the “CPRs” (temporary residence centers for deportation) has not yielded the expected results. Instead, empty structures, unemployed staff and millions of euros spent in vain have been reported.
Orfini quipped: “Are repatriation procedures faster in Albania? Of course not. On the contrary, the process is prolonged, because the migrants have to be returned to Italy again. So what does this mean? None.” He called the project “an expensive monument to failure,” while emphasizing that Meloni “cannot accept the collapse of its propaganda, so it continues to defend the agreement at all costs.”
Opposition MPs also raised concerns about the dire conditions of migrants, among whom there have been cases of self-harm. “Since April, 95 critical episodes have been recorded, including people sewing their mouths shut or swallowing razor blades,” Scarpa said.
According to a report by ActionAid and the University of Bari, each place in the Gjader center has cost over 150,000 euros, while the total cost of the project over five years is estimated at up to 1 billion euros. “While the government says it has no money for other needs, about 650,000 euros per person are being spent on 200 migrants,” Orfini added.
Deputy Magi summed it up succinctly: "This is a pharaonic structure, a symbol of propaganda and waste of public money. If we were serious, it should have been closed yesterday. Because, as Meloni himself would say, 'there is no fun-sio-na-tu'."/Translated by Fanpage.it/
