Albania: Italian government's migrant centres ready to host first consignment

euronews (in English)

The centres built by the Italian government in Albania are ready to host migrants rescued in the Mediterranean, eleven months after the agreement between the two countries was signed.

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00:00Reception centers built by Italy in Albania are now ready to host migrants, 11 months

00:08after the agreement between the two countries was signed.

00:11At a first stage, a maximum of 400 people are being sent there, only men rescued by

00:17Italian ships in the Mediterranean Sea and transported to Albania.

00:22Italian staff are running the center, with interpreters, medical visits and the possibility

00:26of applying for asylum guaranteed.

00:28In these centers, migrants will be identified, cured if necessary, but there will be only

00:36the time strictly necessary for the identification procedures, a few hours before being transported

00:43to the other center.

00:45The village of Yadr is a 30-minute drive inland.

00:49Here the major center is located, divided into six parts.

00:53It is supposed to host up to 3,000 people in the future.

00:57The main section is meant to house asylum seekers while their requests are being processed.

01:04Applications must be answered within 28 days, according to the accelerated procedure foreseen

01:08in Italian law.

01:11During this time, applicants will be able to meet lawyers and staff from international

01:15organizations.

01:17Those who are not entitled to asylum end up in another part of the camp.

01:22This is the center of permanent resettlement, the place where people will be accommodated

01:28who will be refused their asylum applications.

01:31There are dozens of places and if the capacity is fulfilled, these migrants will be transferred

01:37to Italy, waiting to be resettled in their countries of origin.

01:42There is also a prison with a capacity of 20 places for migrants who commit crimes.

01:47But in fact, the entire center of Yadr is a place of forced detention, fenced off and

01:52monitored by Italian police officers.

01:55Nobody is allowed to leave it.

02:17To build these structures, tens of millions of euros have been spent, but the authorities

02:22are not able to quantify the total cost of the procedures for the five years of the agreement

02:29between Italy and Albania.

02:31Vincenzo Genovese, Euronews, Yadr.

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