EuroMed Rights - 02/04/2025

Ten days after their transfer to the Gadjër detention centre in Albania, four migrants were sent back to Italy. Two of them had self-harmed. Parliamentarians who visited the center denounced a “flagrant violation” of the rights of exiles. Two others were repatriated for legal reasons: one is still waiting for a response to her asylum application in Italy, the other applied for international protection upon arrival in Albania. However, the agreement between the two countries only allows the transfer of migrants who have never set foot in Italy or who are in an irregular situation on its territory.
On 11 April, 40 people whose asylum applications were rejected in Italy were transferred to repatriation centers in Albania. This transfer is the first to take place following the adoption by the Italian Government of the decree authorising the use of the Gjadër and Shëngjin centers as repatriation centers. Legal experts have questioned the right of an EU member state to transfer people whose asylum claims have been rejected to a place that is neither their country of origin nor a transit country.
On 2nd April Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Deputy Minister Edmondo Cirielli met for a meeting for development cooperation. In particular, they discussed the approval of a €20 million programme, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), to organise the so-called voluntary return of 3,300 migrants in Tunisia, Algeria and Libya.

02/04/2025 – 24/04/2025