Dozens of Italian police officers and social workers, dispatched by the Italian government to migrant centers in Albania, have returned home after the facilities remained empty for weeks.
Just over a month has passed since the highly publicized opening of asylum seeker centers in Albania, which were expected to accommodate up to 3,000 people per month. However, more than 50 police officers were reassigned to Italy two weeks ago, and dozens of social workers left the country over the weekend, as their presence in Albania was deemed “unnecessary.”
Since the centers opened on October 11, only 24 asylum seekers have been sent there for the purpose of repatriation to their countries of origin. Five of them stayed in the center for less than 12 hours, while the rest remained just over 48 hours.
All were transferred back to Italy after Italian judges ruled that detaining them in Albania prior to repatriation to countries like Bangladesh and Egypt—deemed “safe” by Rome—was illegal.
The judges’ decision aligns with an October 4 ruling by the European Court of Justice, which declared that a non-EU country cannot be considered “safe” unless its entire territory is recognized as such.
