What's behind it all

Asylum: Is Italy running a new “Guantánamo”?

Controversial project: Italy has set up two asylum centers in Albania.(Bild: ADNAN BECI / AFP / picturedesk.com)

The fuss is huge: Italy is planning to barrack migrants in two huge centers in Albania while their asylum applications are being examined. The right-wing Meloni government is delighted with the 670 million euro coup, while human rights organizations fear a new "Guantánamo". Krone+ knows what the controversial camps are like. 

The right-wing populist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is delighted. The migrant centers on Albanian soil financed by the Italian government are an "innovative solution" in dealing with the flow of migrants and in the fight against smuggling. The Italian navy ship Libra set off on Monday to bring the first group of migrants to the newly established refugee centers,

In the past ten years, one million migrants have arrived in Italy via the Mediterranean route. 65,000 were deported back to their home countries. The rest stayed or moved on to other countries.

Controversial asylum plan
Meloni's controversial plan looks like this: Refugees rescued in international waters are brought to Albania. Initially to the Adriatic port of Shengjin, where there is an initial reception camp. Here, the migrants are examined, identified, fingerprinted and provided with food as soon as they leave the ship.