Italy has begun transferring migrants to a repurposed facility in Albania, marking the first official use of the site in Gjader since a government decree reclassified its function. The new repatriation scheme reclassifies the Albanian centres as CPRs for irregular migrants.
On Friday, a group of 40 migrants boarded the Italian Navy ship Libra in Brindisi, bound for the centre in northern Albania. The Gjader facility, initially designed as a processing hub for asylum seekers rescued at sea, had been the subject of legal challenges. Court rulings had blocked its original use, forcing a shift in policy.
To bypass these legal hurdles, the Italian government issued a decree on 28 March. It redefined the centre’s purpose as a CPR (Centro di Permanenza per il Rimpatrio). That is a facility for the stay and repatriation of irregular migrants who have already received deportation orders and for whom transfer authorisations have been granted by judges.
“We need to show that we are doing something with this incredibly expensive structure,” said Meghan Benton of the Migration Policy Institute. Speaking from Toulouse, France, Benton noted that other EU countries, including the Netherlands, are exploring similar offshore repatriation arrangements, with Uganda as a potential partner.
The move follows months of legal wrangling, during which the Meloni government sought ways to put the facility into operation. With only a limited number of repatriation centres on Italian soil, authorities argue that failed asylum seekers often vanish before deportation can take place. Rome hopes the Gjader hub will reduce that risk.
Initially, the facility in Albania will host up to 40 individuals, though the government aims to expand capacity to 144 under the new repatriation scheme.
Irregular migrants not just those intercepted at sea
Those transferred are not asylum seekers intercepted at sea, but individuals already detained in Italy, for whom deportation has been approved. However, not all such cases are straightforward. Italy lacks repatriation agreements with many countries it considers “safe,” which complicates direct returns.
In these instances, the government believes Albania’s CPRs may serve as holding facilities while diplomatic efforts unfold.
The original plan had envisioned a repatriation centre in every Italian region, but resistance from regional administrations led the government to look abroad. The Albania option received praise from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and sparked interest among other EU nations.
Yet opposition voices in Italy remain critical. The Association for Legal Studies on Immigration (ASGI) condemned the move, stating that “the forced transfer beyond national borders of people” creates “a deep fracture” in the judicial system.
Francesco Ferri of Action Aid, who joined a group of NGOs and lawmakers monitoring the transfer in Albania, also questioned the legality of the project.
“For us it is unacceptable,” Ferri said. “There is no legislation in Italian law, nor in EU law, nor in the Albania-Italy agreement that would allow rejected asylum seekers to be deported directly from Albania.”
A parliamentary delegation is expected to travel to Albania to monitor how individuals are selected, transferred, and detained. Migration experts have warned that the legality of Italy’s actions remains unclear and is likely to face further court challenges.
