THESE CENTRES, IN A NON-PLACE LOST AMONG THE MOUNTAINS, THREATEN TO BECOME A EUROPEAN MODEL FOR DEPORTATIONS ~ Thymo Nzk ~ On 1 November, hundreds gathered in Tirana, Albania to protest against the Rama–Meloni agreement, which provides for the construction of the detention and repatriation centres for migrants outside the EU borders. The current wave of securitisation sweeping across Europe has paved the way for yet another advance in the externalisation of borders—a trend that risks becoming the so-called “Albanian model.” At the heart of the issue is deportation procedures for people in transit, a topic soon to reach the European Parliament under the forthcoming Return Regulation. The implementation of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum is scheduled for June 2026. While Europe’s far-right rallies behind the slogan “remigration,” Italy once again plays the role of pioneer in an authoritarian experiment. Despite legal ambiguities, the Meloni government began building detention facilities in Albania’s remote province of Lezha shortly after the November 2023 agreement. The move sets a perilous precedent, but it is not a first. Offshore processing models were previously considered by both Denmark and the United Kingdom (the notorious “Rwanda plan.”) During a recent bilateral meeting, Keir Starmer reportedly expressed interest in establishing Return Hubs of his own. But Edi Rama suggested looking elsewhere in the region, stressing Albania’s “special relationship” with Italy. Rama often romanticises this link as one of friendship and cultural proximity. Yet, seen through a historical lens, it is hard not to see it on colonial terms. In 1939, fascist Italy invaded and annexed Albania, turning it into a protectorate, a dynamic of dominance that still echoes through contemporary economic and political ties. The transactional nature of this partnership is hard to miss. The Giro d’Italia’s decision to begin its 2024 edition with a symbolic first stage in Albania came just two days before national elections that secured Rama his fourth consecutive term. Few tools generate national pride, and thus political consensus, much like sport. The transnational network Against Migrant Detention had already mobilised in Tirana last December. Protests outside Albania’s Constitutional Court denounced the agreement’s multiple irregularities. Thirty-three NGOs appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union, but their case was dismissed on procedural grounds and the legal scholar Endri Shabani, co-founder of the anti-corruption movement Nisma Thurje, likened detention in these centres to “kidnapping.” The Camps in the Mountains The section of the centre intended for asylum seekers has a capacity of 880 places. The Center for Permanent Repatriation (CPR) has a capacity of 144, with 20 spaces reserved for the prison. These centres are in a non-place lost among the mountains, a landscape that appears empty and desolate. Amid the rocks, high concrete walls topped with barbed wire stand out, and metal bars surround stacks of sterile containers. A slap in the face for who ever believed in the rhetoric of a Europe of rights-born from the ruins of a history of regimes thought to belong to the past, supposedly closed and overcome. Cases of serious self-harm have already occurred. The death of Hamod Badoui, arrested, deported, transferred repeatedly, stands as a tragic indictment of this system. Here, isolation becomes a deliberate tool of psychological breakdown, discouraging others from making the journey. Saturday’s demonstration began in Tirana’s central Skënderbej Square. Around 150 participants, mainly Italians, Albanians, but also some from others from across Europe, marched to the Italian embassy shouting “Shame on you!”, then onward to EU offices and the prime minister’s residence, chanting in several languages: “Marveshje ilegale, rezistencë globale” (Illegal agreement, global resistance) and “Make the fortress Europe fall.” Later, the group travelled 60 km north to Lezha, the province administering the centres. The mayor has actively spread disinformation, even launching a racist meme campaign on social media. In this economically fragile region, the centres are marketed as job opportunities offering above-average wages. Besmira Lekaj, coordinator of the youth centre welcomed us to HANA’s offices (Hand to Hand against National Apathy) to give us an insight into the local social fabric and share the work they do. By focusing on awareness-raising and the promotion of active citizenship, they play a crucial role in the community. The context is complex, and the only criticism of the agreement from the main opposition party (the Democratic Party of Albania) concerned the perceived threat that the arrival of alleged foreign sexual predators would pose to the community. They described Albanian society as still deeply affected by the legacy of the old regime. The current governing party (the Socialist Party for Development) is the direct heir of the dictatorship-era Party of Labour of Albania, later restructured and renamed, though still partially maintaining its central apparatus and local territorial structures. At the Gates of Gjadër As night fell, demonstrators reached the Gjadër camp. Outside the gates, they read aloud the names of forty-seven people who died in Italian detention centres. Their voices echoed across the empty landscape, unanswered by the indifferent Albanian and Italian police officers stationed beyond the fences. Only a few mocking grins came in reply. The next day, a plenary assembly at the University of Tirana titled “Is Europe Still Our Dream?” hosted discussions, debates and renewed calls for action. Activists from “Mediterranea Bologna” were absent from these two days of events due to a protest against the expulsion of two Albanian citizens. On their way to join the rally, they noticed that the police were using the very Ryanair flight they had boarded. They attempted to raise awareness among the staff, but then refused to remain on board, opposing the normalisation of the use of civilian flights for deportations. The campaign to denounce the illegitimacy of this deal will continue, though much now depends on the European Court of Justice, which has not yet ruled on the matter. The Italian judiciary have already rejected several detention validations from Gjadër. Under the original plan, migrants intercepted at sea by the authorities would be transferred to Albania, where their asylum claims would be processed before deportation. Officially, stays are meant to last 24 hours in the hotspot and up to 28 days in the detention centre—a timetable many lawyers deem impossible to implement. A recent ruling by the European Court of Justice has already constrained such practices, but the European Commission’s spokesperson for Home Affairs, Markus Lammert, said that if conducted “under EU law,” the protocol could “in principle” be deemed compliant. After all, it only takes a new law to legalise a human-rights violation. Values, it seems, are malleable, bendable to fit the shifting balances of power. The struggle ahead will be fought on many fronts: legal, cultural and moral. But one thing is clear, this marks the dawn of a new repressive paradigm that Europe will have to reckon with for years to come. 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