Italy approves new decree to use Albanian migration centers as
repatriation hubs
[March 29, 2025]
By GIADA ZAMPANO
ROME (AP) — Italy's far-right-led government approved a decree that
expands the use of Albanian fast-track asylum processing centers to
include repatriation hubs, in line with a recent EU proposal.
Under the new decree Friday, the two centers in Albania — originally
aimed at processing non-vulnerable migrants rescued in international
waters — will now also house migrants who arrived in Italy, had their
asylum request rejected and received a deportation order.
In a separate decree, the government also toughened rules to obtain
Italian citizenship.
The Albanian centers have remained substantially inactive since their
opening in October, due to legal hurdles and amid wide opposition from
human rights associations, which believe they violate international laws
and put migrants’ rights at risk.
The project — which has cost nearly 800 million euros over a five-year
investment — has been a disappointment for the conservative government
led by Premier Giorgia Meloni.
After longer than expected construction work, the first three groups of
migrants transferred there in October, November and January were sent
back to Italy only a few hours later, after Italian magistrates refused
to validate their detention in the non-EU country.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Friday in a news conference
that the new decree didn’t change the bulk of the agreement with
Albania, but added new functions for the centers.
“The decree changes the law that ratifies the protocol with Albania, but
doesn’t change its content, making it possible to transfer to the
already existing (repatriation) center of Gjader also migrants coming
from Italy,” Piantedosi explained.
“That would allow us to immediately reactivate that center so that it
won’t lose its functions,” he added.
The Italian move, which offers Meloni a new opportunity to relaunch the
costly Albanian centers, follows a European Commission proposal unveiled
in March to open new “return hubs” to be set up in third countries for
rejected asylum-seekers.
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Migrants disembark an Italian Navy ship, as Italy sent 49 people to
Albania for processing following earlier court rejections to
Albania, in Shengjin, northwestern Albania, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
(AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj, File)
Only 20% of people with a deportation order are effectively removed
from EU territory, according to the European Commission, which
presented the “European System for Returns” as a potential solution.
The proposal aims to set a standard for all 27 members of the bloc
and allow national authorities from one country to enforce the
deportation order issued by another. Such rules were missing from
the EU’s migration and asylum pact approved last year.
The Italian government is also waiting for a ruling by the European
Court of Justice, expected this summer, which could enable the
Albanian centers to operate as originally intended
STRICTER RULES ON CITIZENSHIP
In a separate decree, the government also toughened laws on Italian
citizenship.
Italian descendants born abroad will automatically become citizens
for only two generations, and only those with at least one parent or
grandparent born in Italy will become citizens from birth.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani clarified that many
descendants of Italian emigrants will still be able to obtain
citizenship, but limits will be set to avoid abuse and
"commercialization” of Italian passports.
From 2014 to 2024, citizens residing abroad have increased from some
4.6 million to 6.4 million — a jump of 40%. Italy has over 60,000
pending proceedings for citizenship.
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