The Italian parliament will be able
to express itself on the recent memorandum of understanding to
set up migrant processing centres under Italian jurisdiction in
Albania to process up to 36,000 asylum seekers a year, Premier
Giorgia Meloni said at question time Thursday.
She described as "fake news" reports that the parliament had
been stripped of its functions over the memorandum, and pledged
that a bill implementing the accord will be filed soon.
"This accord is a framework, and we will submit to the
parliament in short order a ratification bill including spending
norms," she said.
Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Tuesday
that the government will present a bill in parliament to ratify
the agreement it has reached with Tirana to set up migrant
centres in Albania.
There had been some initial talk of there being no need for this
international agreement to be approved by parliament, something
that led opposition parties to cry foul.
"The government intends to quickly submit a ratification bill to
Parliament that will also contain the rules and the funding
allocations necessary for implementation of the protocol,"
Tajani told the Lower House.
"Today's debate (on the agreement) and the vote at the end of it
demonstrate, if there were any need, that our government has
never shied away from dialogue and parliamentary scrutiny,
especially on issues of such importance".
The minister said that two centres will be set up in Albania
under the agreement and no more than 3,000 migrants will be held
at them at the same time.
He reiterated that only migrants rescued at sea by the Italian
authorities will be taken to the centres in Albania, so not
those saved by NGO-run ships or people who land on Italian soil.
"It will not be possible to tow the barges of the smugglers, nor
will it be possible to direct boats run by non-governmental
organisations, to Albania," he said.
"The migrants will have exactly the same treatment as foreseen
under Italian and European regulations".
Tajani added that "this Protocol is not comparable with the
agreement between the UK and Rwanda.
"There is no outsourcing of the processing of asylum
applications to a third country," he continued.
"And there is no derogation from internationally guaranteed
rights, which are expressly reaffirmed several times in the
Protocol.
"Soon Albania will join the European Union and it is part of the
Council of Europe. Derogations would have been impossible".
Premier Meloni has said Italy was being a "pioneer" with the
agreement, adding that has attracted much interest from
other EU States.
She stressed that "Italian jurisdiction" would be guaranteed
throughout when migrants are taken to Albania.
Meloni also took issue with the Italian Left for criticizing
Albania's Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama for having agreed to
the migrant-centre idea.
Centre-left opposition Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein
has said the plan is unconstitutional because it is effectively
a push-back towards a third country.
The Council of Europe on Monday has expressed concern about the
agreement, saying it raises several human rights issues and
"adds to a worrying European trend towards the externalisation
of asylum responsibilities".
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