Italy opens migrant reception center in Albania

SGGP 11/08/2023 06:39

According to Reuters, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that the country will build centers in Albania to receive illegal migrants arriving by sea.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama. Photo: REUTER

Italy will build a migrant reception facility in the Albanian port of Shëngjin and a repatriation center on the mainland, which will initially accommodate around 3,000 people when they are expected to be operational in the spring of 2024.

The Italian government hopes the centres will take in 36,000 migrants a year. Children, pregnant women and vulnerable people will not be transferred to the centres.

More than 145,000 migrants have landed in Italy so far in 2023, compared with around 88,000 in the same period in 2022. Prime Minister Meloni's government has increased prison sentences for people smugglers and increased the number of detention centers across the country to hold migrants before they can be repatriated.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/italy-mo-trung-tam-tiep-nhan-nguoi-di-cu-tai-albania-post713180.html