Italy’s answer to the ill-fated Rwanda scheme has cost £15,000 per migrant to deport the first group, it has emerged.
The EU county, which has faced mass migration across the Mediterranean largely from Libya, for years, has struck a deal with Albania for them to be sent to two immigration processing centres.
The first Italian military ship left with just 16 migrants on Monday, meaning it cost 18,000 euros (£15,000) to send them to Albania.
It arrived at the port of Shengjin in Albania earlier today
The naval ship Libra left the port of Lampedusa on Monday with the 16 men, ten from Bangladesh and six from Egypt, who were rescued at sea after departing from Libya, an Italian ministry spokesperson said.
Last week, Italy formally opened the two centres in Albania where it plans to process thousands of asylum-seekers.
The first, in an area in Shengjin, 40 miles northwest of the capital, Tirana, is used for screening newcomers.
The second centre, about 14 miles to its east, near the former military airport in Gjader, accommodates migrants during the processing of their asylum claims.
Italian Ambassador to Albania Fabrizio Bucci said the two centres were now ready to process migrants. A small group of protestors were at the entrance of the port today to protest about the centres.
They held banners that read: “The European dream ends here.” One said: “This deal is against human rights, more concretely the migrants’ rights.”
The center in Gjader has capacity for 3,000 migrants, it is staring by processing just 400.
A five-year £560 million deal was reached by the two countries last year. The migrants can apply for asylum while in Albania and any accepted will be able to return to Italy, with others deported to countries of origin.
The agreement was endorsed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as a a way of tackling the issue of migration into the European Union.
Human rights groups fear it sets a dangerous precedent.
The Rwanda scheme would have seen the UK do the same with migrants, but in Rwanda.
It was passed by the Tory government after months of legal challenges but immediately scrapped by the new Labour government in July.
