The UN refugee agency today called for “respect for international refugee law” following the agreement signed yesterday, Monday, between Rome and Tirana to transfer migrants rescued at sea to Albania and examination of asylum applications.

“The conditions of transfer of asylum seekers and refugees must respect international refugee law,” UNHCR called in a statement issued in Geneva.

The agreement signed on Monday in Rome by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart Edi Rama sees Italy open in its neighboring EU candidate country two centers to host migrants rescued in sea ​​so that “the procedures for processing asylum applications or possible repatriations are carried out quickly”.

The two centers, which will be managed by Italy and will start operating in the spring of 2024, will be able to receive up to 3,000 migrants, or almost 39,000 a year, according to forecasts. The measure does not concern minors, pregnant women and vulnerable people.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which states that it was “not informed or consulted on the content of the agreement”, considers that “returns or transfers to safe third countries cannot be considered appropriate unless certain rules are met — notably, if those countries fully respect the rights deriving from the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and human rights obligations, and if the agreement contributes to the fair sharing of responsibility for refugees among countries , instead of displacing it”.

A member of the Italian government clarified today that migrants will be taken directly to these centers, without passing through Italy, and that these structures will come under the control of Rome under “a regime of extraterritoriality”. However, many questions about how such a plan would work remain outstanding.

Since the beginning of the year, Italy is faced with increased immigration flows (145,000 arrivals against 88,000 in the corresponding period of 2022). European rules stipulate that generally a migrant’s first country of entry into the EU is responsible for processing their asylum application, and Mediterranean countries complain that they have to shoulder a disproportionate burden.