Migrants: third mission to Albania of the Asylum and Immigration Table and the Parliamentary Contact Group
Press release
ROME, JANUARY 28, 2025 – The third mission of Tavolo Asilo e Immigrazione, the leading civil society network engaged in promoting and defending the rights of migrant people, carried out in collaboration with the Parliamentary Contact Group on Migration, kicks off in Albania these hours. On the occasion of the third government-operated transfer, TAI will again be in Albania to monitor the procedures and reception conditions of the 49 migrants arriving aboard the Navy ship Cassiopeia.
During the two previous transfers made last October and November, TAI had already denounced the numerous violations of international and national law, as well as of the fundamental rights of the people the Italian government forcibly transfers from the central Mediterranean to Albania.TAI organizations decided today to return to the Shëngjin and Gjadër centers to monitor compliance with procedures and verify the material conditions of detention.
The government is once again experimenting with the Albanian model for purely propagandistic purposes on the one hand, and elevating the confrontation with the judiciary on the other, without waiting for the ruling of the European Court of Justice to continue operations.
TAI organizations also denounce the absence on board the Navy ship of IOM, designated by the government as the entity in charge of carrying out the screening procedures. It is crucial to understand how and by whom the vulnerability assessment was carried out, an element around which serious critical issues have emerged already in the first two transfers carried out in late 2024.
It is also necessary to ensure the legal protection of the relocated persons, which was not readily provided in previous arrivals in Albania. We seek clarification from the government on how people can speak with a lawyer they trust, both in the preparation and hearing stages with the Commission and then also in the eventual validation of detention.
Forced relocation to Albania represents a serious attack on the basic principles of law and democracy. Not only does this approach jeopardize the legal protection and dignity of those who are forced to endure these choices, but it also sets a dangerous precedent. Therefore, as in the two previous cases, we will deploy every effort necessary to oppose this unjustified and unacceptable show of force, to ensure that no more people are transferred to Albania and that the detention centers are permanently closed.
For the Asylum and Immigration Table:
A Buon Diritto, ACLI, ActionAid Italia, Amnesty International Italia, ARCI, ASCS, ASGI, Casa dei Diritti Sociali, Centro Astalli, CGIL, CIES, CIR, Migrantes Commission and GPIC Missionari Comboniani Italian province, CNCA, CoNNGI, Europasilo, Migrantes Foundation, Forum to Change the Order of Things, Intersos, IRC Italy, Italians Without Citizenship, Doctors of the World, Oxfam Italy, ReCoSol, RED Nova, Refugees Welcome Italy, Senza Confine, SIMM, UIL, UNIRE.
