ROME: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday brushed aside criticism of a controversial deal to send migrants for processing in Albania, a European first which other European leaders are watching closely.
Italy on Monday began transferring the first migrants to the centers — 16 men from Egypt and Bangladesh — who are due to arrive Wednesday.
“It is a new, courageous, unprecedented path, but one that perfectly reflects the European spirit and has everything it takes to be followed also with other non-EU nations,” Meloni said.
The scheme comes ahead of a European Union summit in Brussels this week, where migration is on the table.
In a letter to member states ahead of the talks, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc would “be able to draw lessons from this (Albania) experience in practice.”
Italy’s two processing centers in Albania will be operated under Italian law, with Italian security and staff, and judges hearing cases by video from Rome.
But human rights groups question whether there will be enough protection for asylum seekers.
“The first people to arrive in Italy’s new detention centers deserve better than to be subject to this dangerous political experiment,” said Susanna Zanfrini, Italy director for the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organization.
“Even as the doors open on these new facilities, some huge questions remain unanswered about how Italy will ensure that people’s rights are safeguarded outside of the EU’s jurisdiction.”
Italy’s Mediterranean coast has long been a target for migrants hoping to reach Europe.
Meloni’s post-fascist Brothers of Italy party promised to halt the arrivals during 2022 national elections.
She agreed with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in November 2023 to open the asylum centers.
Addressing the Senate in Rome, Meloni said her government was setting a “good example” to other countries on how to tackle irregular migration.
She added that Italy would organize an informal meeting at the EU summit ” between the member states most interested in the migration issue.”
At talks in Luxembourg on Tuesday on Albania’s negotiations to eventually join the EU, Rama said, however, that his deal with Italy may not be easily replicated by other countries.
“We have been asked by others and we have said no,” he told reporters, pointing to the long history of close Italy-Albania ties.
The five-year deal, estimated to cost Italy 160 million euros ($175 million) annually, covers certain adult male migrants intercepted on Italian boats in international waters, but within Italy’s search and rescue area.
Those sent to Albania will be from countries deemed “safe” — a debated criterion but one that allows for a more simplified repatriation process.
Critics say the numbers that can be processed in Albania at any one time — initially put at around 3,000 by Rome, but now reported to be much lower — will have little impact on overall numbers.
“In the last three days, more than 1,600 migrants have landed in Italy. An Italian ship is transporting 16 of them to Albania,” noted Matteo Villa, a researcher at the ISPI think tank.
Almost 160,000 migrants landed on Italian shores last year, up from 105,000 the year before, according to interior ministry data.
Numbers have sharply fallen in 2024, with 54,000 arrivals recorded so far, compared to almost 140,000 in the same period in 2023.
However, the government hopes that intercepting people at sea and sending them to Albania before they reach Italy will act as a deterrent.
Rome has also moved to limit the activities of charity ships that rescue migrants in the Central Mediterranean.
Under the new scheme, migrants will first arrive at a center in the northern Albanian port of Shengjin for registration and health checks. They will then go to a center in nearby Gjader to await processing of their asylum claims.
The Gjader facility — a maze of prefabricated buildings surrounded by high walls and police guards — includes a section for migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected, as well as a small jail.
Italian PM hails ‘courageous’ Albania migrant deal
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Italian PM hails ‘courageous’ Albania migrant deal
- “It is a new, courageous, unprecedented path, but one that perfectly reflects the European spirit,” Meloni said
- The scheme comes ahead of a European Union summit in Brussels this week, where migration is on the table
France to host Syria meeting, cautious on aid, sanctions lifting
- “We will not judge them by their words but by their actions, and over time,” Barrot said
- January meeting would be a follow-up to a meeting in Jordan last week that included Turkiye, Arab and Western states
PARIS: France said on Wednesday it would host an international meeting on Syria in January and that the lifting of sanctions and reconstruction aid would be conditional on clear political and security commitments by the transitional authority.
A team of French diplomats met an official from the Syrian transition team on Tuesday in Damascus and raised the flag over the French embassy there 12 years after cutting ties with Syria’s Bashar Assad amid the country’s civil war.
Acting Foreign Minister Jan-Noel Barrot told parliament that the diplomats had seen positive signals from the transitional authority and that in the capital, at least, Syrians appeared to be resuming their normal life without being impeded.
“We will not judge them by their words but by their actions, and over time,” Barrot said.
The January meeting would be a follow-up to a meeting in Jordan last week that included Turkiye, Arab and Western states. It was not immediately clear whether Syrians would attend or what the precise objective of the conference would be.
Western nations have welcomed Assad’s fall but are weighing whether they can work with the militants who ousted him, including Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), an extremist group that is designated a terrorist organization by the EU.
Barrot said an inclusive transition would be vital and that Western powers had many tools at their disposal to ease the situation, notably the lifting of international sanctions and aid reconstruction.
“But we are making this support conditional on clear commitments on the political and security front,” he said.
Kurds
Since cutting ties with Assad in 2012, France has backed a broadly secular exiled opposition and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria, for which it has given military support in the past.
The SDF is the main ally in a US coalition against Daesh militants in Syria. It is spearheaded by the YPG militia, a group that Turkiye, a NATO ally, sees as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), whose militants have battled the Turkish state for 40 years.
France’s ties with the SDF persist. Barrot stressed that the political transition needed to ensure they were represented, especially given they had been at the forefront in the fight against Daesh, and were currently guarding thousands of hardened militants in prisons and camps.
“We know of Ankara’s security concerns toward the PKK, but we are convinced that it’s possible to find an arrangement that satisfies the interests of everyone. We are working on it,” Barrot said.
“This stabilization also means including the SDF in the Syrian political process,” he said, adding that President Emmanuel Macron had made this point in talks with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.
French far-right leader Le Pen eyes early presidential election
PARIS: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Wednesday that she was preparing for an early presidential election, saying President Emmanuel Macron’s time in office was all but over.
Le Pen, who has brought her anti-immigrant National Rally party from fringe status into the political spotlight, is seen as a leading presidential contender. She faced off against Macron in 2017 and captured an even greater share of the vote in 2022, when Macron won another five-year term.
“I am preparing for an early presidential election, out of precaution, taking into account Emmanuel Macron’s fragility, what little institutional levers he has left,” she said in an interview with Le Parisien newspaper.
“Emmanuel Macron is finished or almost finished,” she said, adding that Macron was diminished both domestically and internationally. “He has angered everyone. He has no more influence in the European Union,” she said.
Macron has repeatedly said he would not resign. Asked for reaction, the Elysee said: “The president has already expressed himself on this matter.”
Le Pen faces her own political challenges. She and other members of her party have been accused of using funds from the European Union to pay party workers in France.
She has denounced the case as a political witch hunt. If convicted, she could be banned from seeking public office for five years. The trial is expected to close in March.
Thirteen dead after naval vessel hits passenger boat off Mumbai
- The navy said 99 people were rescued with efforts ongoing for others
- Local TV channels showed a boat carrying at least five people hitting the passenger vehicle, causing the accident
MUMBAI: At least 13 people died when a boat with more than 100 passengers capsized off the coast of India’s financial capital Mumbai after colliding with an Indian Navy boat on Wednesday, officials said.
The navy said 99 people were rescued with efforts ongoing for others.
“An Indian Navy craft lost control while undertaking engine trials in Mumbai Harbor due to engine malfunction. As a result, the boat collided with a passenger ferry which subsequently capsized,” the Navy said in a statement on X.
Local TV channels showed a boat carrying at least five people hitting the passenger vehicle, causing the accident.
“The speedboat crashed into our boat and water started entering our boat and it overturned. The driver asked us to wear lifejackets,” a passenger on board the vessel told ABP Majha news channel.
“I swam for fifteen minutes before I was rescued by another boat,” said the passenger, who did not identify himself.
The privately-owned passenger boat, called Neelkamal, was heading toward the Elephanta caves, a popular tourist destination off the coast of Mumbai, when it capsized, BMC said.
The caves, which see a steady stream of tourists through the year, are a UNESCO heritage site and were constructed in the 5th-6th centuries A.D.
Boats from the Gateway of India, Mumbai’s southernmost point, make regular trips to ferry tourists to the site, an hour away.
Teenager pleads not guilty to murder of 3 girls that sparked UK riots
- Axel Rudakubanais accused of murdering Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event
- The crime horrified the nation and was followed by days of nationwide rioting
LONDON: A British teenager on Wednesday had not guilty pleas entered on his behalf to charges of murdering three young girls in a knife attack in northern England in July, a crime that horrified the nation and was followed by days of nationwide rioting.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, did not speak when asked at Liverpool Crown Court if he was guilty or not guilty of killing Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, who were at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event in the town of Southport.
Not guilty pleas were also entered over charges of 10 attempted murders, producing the deadly poison ricin and the possession of an Al-Qaeda training manual, under a procedure known as mute of malice where a defendant refuses to speak.
His trial is due to start on Jan. 20 and last for four weeks. Judge Julian Goose confirmed with Rudakubana’s lawyer Stan Reiz that “there will be no positive case advanced” on Rudakubana’s behalf.
During Wednesday’s short hearing, British-born Rudakubana, who appeared by videolink from prison, showed no emotion, staring straight ahead and occasionally rocking from side to side.
Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the incident, was arrested shortly after the attack on the summer vacation event for children in the quiet seaside town north of the city of Liverpool. Police have said the incident was not being treated as terrorist-related.
Large disturbances broke out in Southport after false reports spread on social media that the suspected killer was a radical Islamist migrant.
The disturbances spread across Britain with attacks on mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer blaming the riots on far-right thuggery.
More than 1,500 people were arrested, with prosecutors bringing over 1,000 charges as the authorities took tough action to curb the disorder.
A report by the police watchdog, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), said on Wednesday that officers had displayed immense bravery in the face of extreme violence.
But it added that intelligence failure meant the scale of the disorder was not predicted and forces needed to be better prepared to deal with serious violence.
Christmas miracle: Filipina Mary Jane Veloso returns home after 15 years on death row in Indonesia
- Mary Jane Veloso was returned to the Philippines through a transfer deal with Indonesia
- She and her family are asking for clemency from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
MANILA: After almost 15 years in prison, a Filipino woman who was spared from execution on drug trafficking charges in Indonesia returned to her homeland on Wednesday, with her family preparing to spend Christmas together next week.
Mary Jane Veloso, who will turn 40 next month, was arrested in 2010 at an airport in Yogyakarta for allegedly smuggling 2.6 kg of heroin from Malaysia into Indonesia.
While she denied the charge and has always maintained that she was tricked by a recruiter to bring a suitcase with the drugs hidden in its seams, she was convicted and sentenced to death but received a last-minute reprieve from execution by firing squad in 2015.
Veloso’s repatriation was made possible by a “practical arrangement” for the transfer of prisoners between Indonesia and the Philippines, which their officials signed on Dec. 6.
“I’m very happy that I’m finally back to our country,” she told reporters in Manila.
“My plea to President (Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) is he can hopefully grant me clemency so I can be with my family. I’ve been in prison for 15 years in Indonesia for a crime I didn’t commit.”
Her transfer removes the possibility of execution, as the predominantly Catholic Philippines has long abolished the death penalty.
She had a tearful reunion with her family at a prison facility she was brought to after arriving in the Philippines, as relatives and a small group of supporters gathered with banners and flowers to welcome her.
“I’m very happy because for the almost 15 years she was in prison, we hadn’t had the chance to spend time with her. Now we can be with her, the whole family … It’s a miracle,” said Celia Veloso, her 65-year-old mother.
“Our plan really is to spend Christmas here with her,” she added. “Her siblings have already made their plan and they have prepared their gifts for her. Even her children are also looking forward to it.”
Veloso’s two sons were 1 and 6 years old when she was arrested in 2010.
“I hope that it won’t take too long for her to get clemency … Mary Jane has been in jail a long time. I hope the president will give it to us as a Christmas present.”
Indonesia, which has one of the world’s harshest anti-narcotics laws, had previously said it would respect any decision made by the Philippines, including if Veloso were given clemency.
“I could not think of any better time for her to come home, given the Filipino tradition of celebrating the season and the spirit behind it,” Edre Olalia, a lawyer in Veloso’s legal team, told Arab News.
“I believe it is a miracle in a sense, and … the best Christmas gift because you cannot quantify the happiness and the joy of being reunited (with family).”
According to protocol, Veloso has to spend five days in quarantine following her arrival but will be able to spend Christmas Eve together with her family, said (Retd.) Gen. Gregorio Catapang, director-general of the Bureau of Corrections.
Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasques said Veloso’s return was “a beautiful gift” for the country.
“It’s a fitting gift during Christmas time, and we cannot say more. This is the result of more than 10 years of diplomatic efforts with the country of Indonesia, and the stars aligned, so to speak, that now we have achieved what we have long hoped for — the return of Mary Jane Veloso.”
Her case had sparked numerous protests in both Indonesia and the Philippines, where people demanded Jakarta spare her from the firing squad. The Philippine government has also sought clemency for Veloso in high-level bilateral meetings, including when former President Joko Widodo visited Manila in January.
For her family, the long wait for Veloso’s return is now over.
“Finally, she is here in the Philippines,” said her 22-year-old son, Mark Daniel Veloso Candelaria.
“We hope that our beloved president will grant the clemency that our family is asking for so that we can spend Christmas and New Year together.”
