Current:Home > InvestUNHCR to monitor implementation of Italy-Albania accord to ensure migrants’ asylum rights respected -Excel Money Vision
UNHCR to monitor implementation of Italy-Albania accord to ensure migrants’ asylum rights respected
View
Date:2025-04-11 21:43:55
ROME (AP) — The U.N. refugee agency, which has expressed serious concerns about Italy’s deal to process some migrants’ asylum requests at holding centers in Albania, has agreed to monitor the first three months of the agreement.
UNHCR recalled that it wasn’t a party to the Italy-Albania deal, had maintained reservations about it and requested clarification about how it would be implemented. But the agency said in a statement on Wednesday that it had agreed to monitor its execution to help “safeguard the rights and dignity of those subject to it.”
The agency said that it would counsel migrants about their right to seek asylum and ensure that the procedures used are “consistent with relevant international and regional human rights standards, are fair, and promote protection and solutions for those in need of international protection.”
The contentious five-year deal, inked last year, calls for Albania to house up to 3,000 male migrants at a time who have been rescued in international waters while Italy fast-tracks their asylum claims. It was supposed to have become operational this month, but construction delays at the two new detention centers in Albania put off the start date.
Italy’s right-wing government has held up the agreement as an important example of burden-sharing of Europe’s migrant responsibilities, while also serving as a deterrent to would-be refugees. The European Commission, which has long struggled with Europe’s migrant debate, has endorsed it.
But human rights groups have denounced what they call Italy’s outsourcing of its responsibilities under international law to process the asylum requests of Italy-bound migrants rescued at sea. The center-left opposition in Italy has called the centers Italy’s “Guantanamo.”
UNHCR said that its monitoring mission would be funded by sources other than Italy and Albania to ensure that it remains independent and said it would report back after three months with recommendations.
According to the agreement, migrants will be screened initially on board the ships that have rescued them, with vulnerable migrants taken to Italy while others are sent to Albania for additional screening.
UNHCR and other agencies have expressed concern both about the onboard screenings, and whether they will truly be able to identify vulnerable migrants, as well as migrants’ access to adequate legal counsel once in Albania.
In a January appearance at Italy’s lower chamber of parliament, UNHCR’s Italy director, Chiara Cardoletti, said that the issue of legal representation would be complicated by housing the migrants in Albania, especially establishing a relationship of trust and confidentiality.
She noted that none of the protocols to date had established how migrants who aren’t eligible for asylum would be sent home. And she also questioned the costs, and recommended regardless that more resources be spent reinforcing the migrant processing centers in Italy.
The two centers in Albania will cost Italy 670 million euros ($730 million) over five years. The facilities will be fully run by Italy, and both centers are under Italian jurisdiction, while Albanian guards will provide external security.
UNHCR’s announcement of a monitoring mission came on the eve of an annual update by Italy’s interior minister about a host of security issues, including migration. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi noted that Italy had registered a 20% increase in the number of repatriations of migrants this year who aren’t eligible for asylum.
At the same time, the number of new migrants arriving in Italy is sharply down this year: As of Wednesday, 37,644 people had arrived by boat this year, compared to 100,419 over the same period last year, according to interior ministry statistics.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
veryGood! (149)
Related
- Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
- Immigration judges union, a frequent critic, is told to get approval before speaking publicly
- Whole Foods Market plans to launch smaller Daily Shops; first to open in New York in 2024
- Luann de Lesseps and Mary-Kate Olsen's Ex Olivier Sarkozy Grab Lunch in NYC
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- More people filed their taxes for free so far this year compared to last year, IRS says
- Alabama man jailed in 'the freezer' died of homicide due to hypothermia, records show
- Oregon lawmakers voted to recriminalize drugs. The bill’s future is now in the governor’s hands
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Single-engine plane crashes along Tennessee highway, killing those aboard and closing lanes
Ranking
- Gen. Mark Milley's security detail and security clearance revoked, Pentagon says
- RuPaul Charles opens up about addiction, self-worth: 'Real power comes from within'
- Kristin Cavallari, Mark Estes and the sexist relationship age gap discourse
- Luann de Lesseps and Mary-Kate Olsen's Ex Olivier Sarkozy Grab Lunch in NYC
- Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
- New Broadway musical Suffs shines a spotlight on the women's suffrage movement
- Nevada Democratic US Sen. Jacky Rosen, at union hall rally, makes reelection bid official
- Beyoncé and Jay-Z made biggest real estate move in 2023 among musicians, study finds
Recommendation
At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
Arkansas voters could make history with 2 Supreme Court races, including crowded chief justice race
'$6.6 billion deal': Arkhouse and Brigade increase buyout bid for Macy's
EAGLEEYE COIN: Blockchain Technology - Reshaping the Future of the Financial Industry
Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
New frescoes found in ash of Pompeii 2,000 years after city wiped out by Mount Vesuvius eruption
Shehbaz Sharif elected Pakistan's prime minister as Imran Khan's followers allege victory was stolen
5 die in fiery small plane crash off Nashville interstate