The offshore detention of migrants and asylum seekers under the Italy-Albania Agreement is jeopardizing people’s safety, liberty and human rights, Amnesty International said in a briefing published as events in Ceuta continue to expose the dangers of long-standing European Union (EU) migration policies that centre on exclusion and containment.
Italy: Extraterritorial migration detention and human rights obligations analyzes the 2023 agreement to establish two migration facilities in Albania run by Italian authorities, which has led to the forcible transfer of hundreds of people who face being locked up, many unable to access legal help. The conditions there and harmful human costs of Italy’s offshore policies have driven several individuals to self-harm or attempt suicide.
“Offshore detention is ultimately aimed at deterrence and trying to shift and evade both the responsibilities of responding to people migrating and the obligation to provide asylum to those who need it. Italy’s deal with Albania shows yet again the unavoidable human rights costs of this approach,” said Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office.
“Just before the deal entered into force, Amnesty International sounded the alarm on the harmful impact it would inevitably have on the rights of people in distress at sea, and of people transferred to Albania. Clearly, these concerns have now materialized.”
Amnesty International believe its findings must serve as a warning to the EU about the disastrous impact of migration policies that seek to increasingly rely on countries outside its borders to manage migration, at the expense of expanding safe and regular pathways.
Unnecessary cruelty
Between October 2024 and January 2025, Italy carried out three maritime operations and forcibly transferred 74 people directly from international waters to Albania under the Agreement. Following numerous Italian court rulings which overturned detention orders for these people, Italy stopped the transfers to Albania from the high seas.
However, in March 2025, the Italian government amended the Agreement to allow for the detention in Albania of men with expulsion orders in Italy. As a result, hundreds (reportedly over 500) predominantly racialized men have been forcibly transferred to the Albanian detention centre in Gjadër over the past 15 months.
Between 11 April and 16 May 2025, 42 critical incidents were recorded in the Gjadër centre, including at least two attempted hangings, a protest where three people were injured from shattered glass, and various self-harm incidents.
The Italian government has obstructed independent monitoring of the Agreement’s implementation, including by restricting parliamentary oversight and bypassing ordinary legislative processes. By limiting access and oversight by independent rights observers, what happens in the Albanian detention centres remains largely shrouded in secrecy.
Whilst people detained in Albania fall under Italian jurisdiction, their physical distance from Italy combined with limited access to lawyers, courts and other safeguards, significantly undermines the effectiveness of the right to seek asylum and to access justice.
A lawyer interviewed by Amnesty International said he had been unable to meet his client before their hearing and had no time to adequately prepare the defence. In his view, the minutes of asylum hearings showing people answering questions in monosyllables was a sign they had been intimidated.
People detained in Albania are understandably traumatized. What they are forced to undergo is an intolerable and unnecessary cruelty
Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office
“People detained in Albania are understandably traumatized. They may have crossed the desert, been detained and abused in Libya, survived the sea crossing on unseaworthy boats, and then, following interception by the Italian authorities, spent days travelling to Albania. Others, transferred from detention in Italy, are ripped from their lives, leaving behind communities and support networks and are expected to suddenly contend with new surroundings, screenings, paperwork – all from a place of isolation. What they are forced to undergo is an intolerable and unnecessary cruelty,” said Eve Geddie.
Undermining the rule of law
Italian courts and the Court of Justice of the EU have found Italian rules and practice around asylum applications filed by people from countries designated by Italy as “safe” (the basis for fast tracking applications) to be inconsistent with the applicable EU law, and without sufficient safeguards for applicants.
Despite repeated Italian court rulings ordering people’s release from detention in Albania, the Italian government has pushed ahead with implementing the deal. It has tried to limit courts’ scrutiny over the designation of “safe countries” by resorting to legislation intended for situations of urgency without providing reasons to undermine the rule of law.
Individuals with expulsion orders in Italy and already in detention there, have also been subject to unlawful extraterritorial transfers, outside of provisions in domestic and European law.
“It is abundantly clear that the Italy-Albania model is impossible to implement in line with Italy’s human rights obligations. This reality must be a wake-up call for the EU to put any future plans to expand the use of offshore detention and other externalization tools, firmly on ice,” said Eve Geddie.
“Italian authorities must immediately end the agreement with Albania, implement alternatives to migration detention, which under international law must remain the last resort, and ensure access to effective and non-discriminatory asylum procedures and dignified reception on Italian territory to all people seeking international protection. All refugees and migrants should be able to access effective legal safeguards and benefit from independent monitoring.”
Background
The Italy-Albania Agreement entered into force on 23 February 2024 and is set to remain in force for five years, after which time it will be automatically renewed. The Italian government is reported to have set side over €670 million for its operation until 2028.
As the Italian Ministry of Interior repeatedly denied Amnesty International’s requests for access to the detention centres in Albania, citing security and public order reasons, the research is based on correspondence with the Ministry of Interior and a review of court documents, information exchanged within the Tavolo Asilo e Immigrazione civil society network, reports from parliamentarians and ombudspersons, interviews with UN agencies and with two lawyers of people detained in Gjadër.