Meloni responds to criticism from Sea Watch.

Italy has opened two migrant reception centres in Albania to process male migrants intercepted at sea by Italian authorities, amid strong criticism from human rights groups.

An Italian navy ship was making its way to Albania on Monday with the first group of migrants to be processed, news agency ANSA reported, under a controversial five-year deal signed last November by Italian prime minister Meloni and her Albanian counterpart Edi Rama.

The centres in Shengjin and nearby Gjader in northern Albania will be able to process and accommodate up to 3,000 male migrants per month as authorities process their asylum claims.

Women, children and "vulnerable" people picked up in international waters by Italian authorities will be taken to Italy, not Albania.

The initiative is being managed by Italy's interior ministry and the offshore structures are under Italian jurisdiction.

The migrant centres were constructed by Italy, at a cost of €670 million, and will be staffed by around 500 Italian personnel including prison guards, police and soldiers.

German NGO Sea Watch on Sunday accused the Meloni government of "spending hundreds of millions of euros of taxpayers' money to deport and incarcerate a few thousand migrants in Albania", suggesting that Italian taxes could be better spent "to welcome and include, rather than reject".

Meloni responded to the criticism on social media, writing: "What a scandal! A government which - with a clear mandate received from citizens - is working to defend Italian borders and stop human trafficking, through concrete actions and international agreements".

Photo: Migrants on the Italian island of Lampedusa, province of Agrigento, 16 September 2023. Credit: Alessio Tricani / Shutterstock.com.