Italy has deported a rejected asylum seeker via Albania for the first time. According to ORF, Rome intends to increase deportations via third countries in the future.

Italy has deported a rejected asylum seeker to his country of origin via a newly established repatriation center in Albania for the first time. According to the public broadcaster ORF, the man in question is a 42-year-old from Bangladesh who entered Italy in 2009 and was classified as a danger to society due to multiple previous convictions, including serious cases of domestic violence. The Italian authorities have now officially implemented the deportation via the Albanian camp.

The measure is part of a controversial migration policy by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government, which focuses on outsourcing asylum procedures to third countries. According to the Italian government, the Albanian locations of Shëngjin and Gjader were originally intended to be used for the rapid processing of new asylum applications. However, as reported by ORF, the centers stood empty for months after the administrative court in Rome temporarily halted the process due to legal concerns.

With the deportation now carried out, the camps have officially been put into use – but not to examine new applications, but to return asylum seekers who have already been rejected and whose stay in Italy has been legally terminated. According to the ORF report, Italy intends to use these Albanian facilities to deport more rejected asylum seekers in the future.

The agreement with Albania was concluded in 2023 and had been criticized both within the EU and by human rights organizations. Among other things, there are fears that it could undermine the rule of law and circumvent international protection obligations. Rome, on the other hand, emphasizes that the measure is necessary to reduce the number of illegal stays and relieve the burden on the Italian asylum system.

The Italian government announced that it would prepare further deportations via Albania. It remains to be seen whether the model will prove viable in the long term, not least because of unresolved legal issues.

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