The European Commission did not give its opinion on Tuesday 28 August regarding the legality of the solution found by the Italian authorities for the Diciotti – the Italian boat that rescued 150 migrants at sea, who have disembarked in Sicily after several countries, notably Albania, have spoken of their readiness to host some of these migrants on their soil.
When questioned by press, the Commission refused to say whether, with regard the migrants who will be transferred from Italy to Albania, this was a case of refoulement, without detailed information.
It involves a bilateral agreement between two countries, a spokesperson for the Commission, Lucia Caudet, stated.
Before the European summit in June, the Commission said that several practices pertained to refoulement and were not legal in the EU, like hosting migrants, who request asylum, and sending them to third countries while their request is handled.
But, in the case of the Diciotti, the people who will be transferred to Albania should not have applied for asylum in Italy, nor have been authorised to do so. This is all the work of the Italian authorities, which since June have decided to interpret the so-called 'Dublin' rules on asylum in their own way and to get around them by not authorising migrants who have arrived in Italian ports to register in Italy as asylum seekers.
When contacted by EUROPE, the Rome office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) praised the Albanian proposal, which enabled a human solution to be found for these people who have been blocked on board the Diciotti for several days.
This development "is a concrete demonstration of the international solidarity needed to resolve such situations" and "we continue to urge the states" to develop reliable and monitored solutions for people who have been rescued, the same office said, adding it was ready to help the Albanian authorities in this hosting process.
On Tuesday, Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama said in an interview with several Italian newspapers that his country wanted to help Italy, which has helped Albania in the past and which the EU is leaving "alone" in the face of this migration problem. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)