Like Rishi Sunak, Giorgia Meloni has a migration fight on her hands

Gjader’s air base is at the centre of an agreement to house immigrants in Albania CREDIT: Chris Warde-Jones

By Nick Squires, Italy Correspondent, GJADER

Back in the day, during the paranoid regime of the Communist dictator Enver Hoxha, Gjader was known for one thing. The village in northern Albania was home to a big military air base that consisted of two long concrete airstrips from which fighters would take off and land. The airstrips are still there. One of them leads towards the slopes of a mountain and burrows right into it, the concrete runway continuing into tunnels that are hewn from the rock. It is said that ancient MiGs are still stored there, gathering dust. It’s a rumour that is hard to verify – the entrance to the tunnels is blocked by a military checkpoint. When The Telegraph approached, a young soldier emerged from a camouflaged sentry box and told us to leave immediately. Gjader will soon be known for something rather different. Under a deal that was signed between the governments of Albania and Italy this month, the Italians have been given permission to build a huge migrant centre here. The idea is that migrants trying to cross from North Africa to Italy in boats will be intercepted by the Italian navy and brought here. Around 3,000 a month will be processed – if their asylum applications are rejected, they will be repatriated. With such a swift turnaround, it means the repatriation centre should be able to handle about 36,000 migrants a year. Not surprisingly, many locals are appalled at the prospect of such a big migrant facility being built on their doorstep. And like the British government’s plan to fly migrants to Rwanda, the Albania deal is highly controversial and faces numerous challenges. Opposition parties in both Italy and Albania say it is unethical, unworkable and possibly contrary to international law. The Council of Europe this week expressed concerns about the accord, saying that it “raises several human rights concerns and adds to a worrying European trend towards the externalisation of asylum responsibilities”. Dunja Mijatović, the Commissioner for Human Rights, said there were questions over the fairness of asylum procedures, detention conditions, access to legal aid and judicial reviews. Like Rishi Sunak with the troubled Rwanda plan, it looks like Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni may have a battle on her hands to get the deal up and running.