Albanian Parliament Approves Agreement with Italy to Establish Refugee Camps
The Albanian Parliament approved the controversial agreement with Italy regarding sending refugees to Albania. Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania, and Giorgia Meloni, the Prime Minister of Italy, signed this agreement last November.
According to this agreement, 3,000 refugees who are heading to Italy by sea each month will be detained and held in two centers that Italy will build and operate on Albanian soil until their asylum applications are processed.
Human rights groups have called this agreement shameful.
Opposition parties in Albania recently attempted to prevent the approval of this law by filing a complaint with the Constitutional Court, but their complaint was dismissed.
Their argument was that refugee centers on Albanian soil operated by the Italian government would violate Albania’s national sovereignty.
However, the judges of the Albanian Constitutional Court stated that the members of Parliament could put this agreement to a vote.