Human Rights Watchdog Urges Italy, Albania to End Offshore Migrant Detention

Amnesty International has raised concerns about the human rights of migrants and asylum seekers being held in detention centers in Albania as part of a deal with Italy. According to Amnesty, the Italian-Albanian agreement is "jeopardising people's safety, liberty and human rights".

The deal, which was established in 2024, has seen two migration centers set up in Albania, including one in the village of Gjadër. This center was initially built as a detention center for migrants intercepted in international waters, but was later used to house male asylum seekers awaiting deportation.

Amnesty reported 42 "critical" incidents at the Gjadër center between April 11 and May 16, 2025, including self-harm, suicide attempts, and violent protests. The organization warned that the Italy-Albania model is impossible to implement in line with Italy's human rights obligations and urged the EU to reconsider its use of offshore detention and externalization tools.

Brief written by urgent.news from Balkan Insight, Politico EU — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.