Italian navy ship with migrants arrives in Albania's port

By Fatos Bytyci

SHENGJIN, Albania (Reuters) - An Italian ship carrying a first group of migrants to be processed in Albania arrived in the port of Shengjin on Wednesday morning, setting in motion a controversial plan to process thousands of asylum seekers abroad.

Italy has built two reception centres in Albania, the first such deal involving a European Union nation diverting migrants to a non-EU country in an effort to deter irregular arrivals.

The Libra, an Italian navy ship, docked at the former navy port Shengjin, Reuters footage showed. It will be met by Italian officers.

The first group of migrants to be processed under the new arrangement, comprising 10 Bangladeshis and six Egyptians, was picked up at sea on Sunday aboard boats that had set sail from Libya.

They will be checked in Shengjin and then taken inland to Gjader, a small village about a 15-minute drive away, where they will be accommodated until their papers are processed. 

Once their papers are processed, they will be either sent to Italy, if the answer to their asylum request is positive, or back home if their request was rejected. 

The facilities in Shengjin and Gjader will be staffed by Italian personnel. The total number of migrants present at one time in Albania cannot be more than 3,000 under the deal.

Italy has said only "non-vulnerable" men coming from countries classified as safe would be sent to Albania.

At present there are 21 such nations on the Italian list. Last year, 56,588 migrants arrived in Italy from just four of them -- Bangladesh, Egypt, Ivory Coast and Tunisia. Most quickly abscond from reception centres and head to wealthier northern Europe.

Under the terms of the Albania accord, up to 36,000 migrants can be dispatched to the Balkan nation each year, so long as they come from the list of safe countries, which severely limits the possibility of them obtaining asylum.

Rights experts say it might be hard for Italian courts to promptly process asylum requests or appeals against detention orders from people hosted in another country, and lengthy procedures could put an unjustified burden on migrants.

The swift repatriations envisaged under the plan may not materialise as some countries have limits on the number of nationals they will accept back.

The government hopes the threat of detention will act as a deterrent for migrants. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said this week that Italy was setting an example for the rest of Europe with the policy.

(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci and Florion Goga; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)