Meloni of Italy called the plan to deport migrants to Albania brave and unusual

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni dismissed worries that migrants’ human rights were being abused on Tuesday, saying that Italy is leading the way in processing their asylum requests by sending them to third countries.

As Meloni’s contentious proposal to employ a facility outside the boundaries of the European Union to determine whether refugees are eligible to enter Italy takes effect after a few months of delay, the first batch of 16 migrants is sailing to Albania on an Italian navy ship.

“It is a new, courageous, unprecedented path, but one that perfectly reflects the European spirit and has all the makings of a path to be taken with other non-EU nations as well,” Meloni told the Senate’s upper chamber.

Only “non-vulnerable” personnel from “safe” nations will be transferred to Albania, according to Italy.

Boats that had sailed from Libya picked up the first group of migrants, which included six Egyptians and ten Bangladeshis, at sea on Sunday. On Wednesday, they are scheduled to arrive in Albania.

They have very little possibility of being granted refuge because they are from nations that Rome has declared safe, and Italy has stated that anyone who does not pass would be sent back to their home country.

Over the last 12 years, well over a million migrants have arrived in Italy via water. The great majority swiftly flee from the welcome centers located around the nation and either look for employment in Italy or, more often, migrate to the more affluent regions of northern Europe.

Judges will hear cases via video link from Rome, and the centers will be run in accordance with Italian law, with Italian personnel and security. The government of Meloni thinks that the prospect of being held in safe facilities in Albania will discourage potential migrants.

Human rights organizations, however, assert that the initiative’s goal is to safeguard borders.

“The Italy-Albania proposal is a means of evading obligations regarding asylum. Giorgia Linardi, a spokesperson for the Sea-Watch charity, which conducts rescue operations in the Mediterranean, one of the world’s most hazardous migrant crossings, called it “another attempt to militarize borders.”

Up to 36,000 migrants may be sent annually to the Balkan country under the conditions of the five-year Albania agreement.

Italy has traditionally had trouble convincing nations to repatriate all of its migrant citizens, and there is no sign that the Albania proposal will speed up the process because other nations have restrictions on how many citizens they will allow to return.