Some would-be asylum seekers intercepted by Italian navy or coastguard vessels in international waters will be taken to Albania.
Some would-be asylum seekers intercepted by Italian navy or coastguard vessels in international waters will be taken to Albania. AFP

Italy on Monday began transferring migrants intercepted in the Mediterranean to centres in Albania in a European first that has sparked criticism from human rights groups.

The Italian navy's Libra patrol vessel set off with the first would-be asylum seekers on Monday, a government source told AFP, without specifying how many people were on board.

The vessel is to arrive Wednesday, reported La Repubblica daily. It said the passengers came from Egypt and Bangladesh.

Far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took office in October 2022 on a promise to stop the thousands of migrants who land on Italy's shores each year from North Africa.

In November last year, she agreed a deal with Albanian counterpart Edi Rama to process some asylum seekers in his country -- which is not part of the European Union.

The five-year deal, estimated to cost Italy 160 million euros ($175 million) a year, covers adult male migrants intercepted by Italian navy or coastguard vessels in international waters, but within Italy's search and rescue area.

They are to be transferred to a military ship for an initial screening at sea.

From there, a determination will be made as to which migrants are from countries considered "safe", which in theory simplifies repatriation.

On arriving in Albania, they will be transferred to a centre in the northern port of Shengjin for registration and health checks, and then sent to a centre in Gjader to wait for their asylum claims to be processed.

The Gjader facility includes a section for migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected, as well as a small jail.

The migrant centres will be run under Italian law, with Italian security and staff. Migrants considered vulnerable under EU law -- including minors, women, people with mental health issues or victims of torture, abuse or human trafficking -- are exempt from the scheme, and will be processed in Italy.

When the deal was first announced, the Italian government said the centres would accommodate up to 3,000 people at a time, but media tallies suggested the current number of beds was less than half that.

Italy's centres in Albania are opening just ahead of an EU summit in Brussels this week, in which migration will be discussed, including increasing and speeding up returns of migrants who do not qualify for asylum.

The Italian deal has been criticised by human rights groups, who question whether Albania will offer enough protection for asylum seekers.

On Saturday, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi called the facilities "light detention" centres.

"There is no barbed wire, there is assistance", he said.

"Everyone can apply for international protection and receive a response in a few days", he added.

However, Italy's UILPA prison guards' union -- whose guards will be used in Albania -- cautioned that Piantedosi's assessment was over-optimistic, with the water and electricity supply not yet fully functional.

Illegal immigration has been a prime target of Meloni since her post-fascist Brothers of Italy party won a shock election victory in 2022.

Besides Albania, Meloni's government has inked a deal with Tunisia, granting aid in exchange for greater efforts to stop Italy-bound migrants who leave the North African country and cross the Mediterranean.

Italy has also renewed a 2017 deal with the UN-backed Libyan government in Tripoli. Rome provides training and funding to the Libyan coastguard in order to stem departures of migrants or return to Libya those already at sea.