Illegal immigration via sea to Italy has dropped by 62.4 percent this year, according to official figures released on Aug. 13.
A total of 37,031 illegal immigrants arrived by boat from across the Mediterranean as of Aug. 12, compared to 98,535 a year ago.
High levels of illegal arrivals were encountered in Italy, with the island of Lampedusa the hardest hit of all landing sites.
At one point, politicians compared the arrivals on the island to an invasion after 120 boats carrying a total of roughly 7,000 illegal immigrants, equivalent to Lampedusa’s total population, arrived in a single day in September.
Those deemed to be vulnerable, such as children, women, elderly people, the sick, and victims of torture, will be housed in Italy and families won’t be separated, according to Bucci.
Illegal immigrants deported across the Adriatic Sea will retain their right under international and European Union law to apply for asylum in Italy and have their claims processed there, although their movement in and out of the centers in Albania will be restricted.
The agreement to establish the centers was reached between Rome and Tirana in 2023.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen endorsed the plan as an example of “out-of-box thinking” in tackling the issue of immigration into the EU last month.
The two centers in Albania, with the facilities fully run by Italy and under Italian jurisdiction, will cost the Italian government 670 million euros ($730 million) over five years. Albanian guards will provide external security.
One of the centers, in the port of Shengjin on Albania’s Adriatic coast, has been ready since May, but the other, located about 15 miles east near a former military airport in Gjader, is unfinished, missing its slated opening date of Aug. 1.
The delay in construction has been attributed to hot weather in the region forcing workers to pause in the middle of the day.
The Shengjin facility is made up of a 43,000-square-foot area with housing units and offices at the port, surrounded by a 16-foot high metal fence crowned with barbed wire.
Although popular in some quarters, human rights groups have criticized the centers.
“It is shameful that, despite all the criticism and concerns raised by human rights organizations, the Italian government has decided to go ahead with this agreement,” said Eve Geddie, director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office.
Official figures show that the most common countries of origin for illegal immigrants arriving in Italy are Bangladesh (7,615), Syria (5,725), and Tunisia (4,747).
The political unrest currently underway in Bangladesh has some in Italy concerned that there could be an uptick in illegal immigrants from the country, which already makes up the single largest group of illegal immigrants.
Earlier this month, two migrants died and one was still missing after a boat carrying more than 30 people sank about 17 miles southeast of the Italian city of Syracuse on Sicily.
According to U.N. data, more than 23,500 migrants have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean since 2014.
