31/07/2024 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 31 July, Amnesty International criticised the planned opening in August of new detention centres in Albania to receive people rescued or intercepted at sea by Italian ships (see EUROPE 13287/17) and to process their asylum applications for Italy, under a 2023 agreement. “People in distress at sea will be subjected to long and unnecessary journeys, in patent violation of Italy’s obligation to ensure the swift disembarkation of rescued persons in a place of safety. On reaching dry land, they will face automatic, arbitrary and potentially prolonged detention in Albania”, deplores the NGO. “These centres represent the latest attempt by an EU country to circumvent their obligations under EU and international law by ‘externalising’ or shifting the processing of people’s protection claims outside of their territory”. (SP)