When Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni unveiled her flagship plan to intercept, detain, and process asylum-seekers in Albania, it was presented as a grand answer to Europe’s migration crisis.
However, one year and €67.5 million later, the scheme remains stuck in judicial limbo with no possibility for processing asylum-seekers, empty buildings that are already falling apart, and Italian personnel returning home.
“It looked like a ghost town,” said Volt Europe co-President Francesca Romana D’Antuono, who visited the detention center in Gjadër in late November and participated in protests against the camp with local activists. She told POLITICO that upon entering, they encountered a significant police presence, but noted, “The point is that they do nothing all day, because there’s really nothing to do.”
According to D’Antuono, the senior police officer accompanying them during the visit was displeased with their questioning of the staff, expressing, “I think they feel the absurdity of it all.”
In October, the first 16 migrants—from Bangladesh and Egypt—arrived at the centers on an Italian warship. However, within seven days, all 16 were returned to Italy after immigration judges in Rome nixed the scheme.
In late November, part of the Italian staff employed by Medihospes, the company managing operations at the centers, started returning to Italy.
Sources at the Italian embassy informed POLITICO that despite staff reductions last month, all stations remain fully staffed—complete with round-the-clock police shifts—just in case a surprise wave of refugees arrives.
The project includes a reception and sorting center in Shëngjin, where refugees intercepted by the Italian coast guard are initially brought, their personal data processed, and they are provided with basic health care services. The second part of the operation is a detention camp in Gjadër, located inland about 8 kilometers from the regional city of Lezhë.
Shëngjin had also served as a holding hub for Afghan refugees, particularly following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Despite its role as a temporary shelter, many refugees remained stuck there for nearly two years, awaiting clearance to move to the United States.
Sandër Marashi, head of the port at Shëngjin, reported that although no migrants have arrived for weeks, “the entire Italian staff is still at the port and at the center, and they manage everything here.”
Locals in the resort town of Shëngjin claim that the police spend their days relaxing at the five-star Rafaelo Resort, enjoying the sun and indulging in seafood, while their recognizable Carabinieri police cars sit parked out front.
Reports from Albanian media indicate that the staff at Gjadër—isolated in a mountainside village with only a few hundred locals for company—are feeling lonely, bored, and increasingly resentful of their Shëngjin colleagues, who they claim are enjoying a much better situation.
According to a story published in the internal magazine of the Italian penitentiary police, with no refugees in sight, local prison officers at Gjadër have resorted to rescuing and entertaining the village’s stray dogs instead.
‘A very expensive waiting room’
In April, the Italian government allocated €65 million for the construction of the two centers and an additional €2.5 million for the expenses of the Italian staff in 2024. Overall, the government estimated it would spend around €680 million over the next five years on maintaining and operating the centers.
Meanwhile, the Italian government is awaiting a decision from the Court of Justice of the European Union, expected this spring, on whether processing migrants in a third country aligns with EU law.
“It’s just a very expensive waiting room,” remarked Volt European Parliament Member Anna Strolenberg, who visited the center in Gjadër with D’Antuono, as she spoke to POLITICO.
Despite the ineffective deployment of Italian police in Albania, they received a significant pay increase. While the average salary of an officer in Italy is under €2,000, those stationed in Albania can earn up to €6,000.
An Albanian television show secretly recorded a group of Italian police officers at the Shëngjin center admitting they spent most of their time in the hotel’s sauna, as they had nothing else to do.
Strolenberg suggested that Meloni’s plan for processing centers in Albania was unrealistic from the start, noting, “Italy returns in total per year around 3,000 people or fewer, and in Albania they wanted to process around 3,000 people per month.”
The facilities are already starting to show signs of deterioration, according to the MEP. “In the hospital, you could already see the water dripping from the walls,” she commented. “And on the ground, the water wouldn’t go away.” She added that it was difficult to envision how the facility would hold up once it became populated.
Failed model or political victory?
Since the inauguration of the two centers on October 11, the project has garnered praise from European leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, both of whom have expressed interest in replicating this approach elsewhere.
Von der Leyen praised the project, calling it “an innovative solution,” and urged other EU leaders to draw “lessons from the Italy-Albania protocol.”
Ahead of the last European summit in late October, Meloni led an informal meeting on “migration and innovative solutions” to recruit other EU leaders interested in addressing migration issues.
Nevertheless, Strolenberg contends that by opening the centers, Meloni has merely provided false hope to both European leaders and EU residents. “Other politicians in Europe look at this deal and hope that it will succeed, that it can be a blueprint for other things,” she asserted, warning that discussions on migration will likely become “even more polarized” as a consequence.
Both Strolenberg and D’Antuono agree that even if the project fails, it won’t necessarily be a political defeat for Meloni. D’Antuono emphasizes, “The narrative now in Italy is that if the project is not happening, it’s not because it’s not a good idea, but because there are communist judges that are ruining everything.”
“It will still look like at least she [Meloni] did the best she could,” Strolenberg concluded.
Meanwhile, attention is shifting toward institutions like the Court of Justice of the EU, whose ruling allowed the Rome tribunal to mandate that the few refugees sent to Albania since October be returned to Italy.
“The European Parliament is moving to the right. European governments are shifting to the right. How long will the judiciary power endure? I don’t believe it will hold much longer, as laws also evolve with political powers,” D’Antuono warned.
