Italian MEP suggests government wants to ‘hide truth’ about Albania migrant centre

An Italian MEP has questioned whether the Italian government is trying to “hide the truth” about conditions at an offshore migrant detention centre in Albania after a delegation she was part of said they were prevented from conducting a full inspection. Cristina Guarda, from Italy’s Greens and Left Alliance (AVS), said staff at the Italian-run facility in Gjadër had refused to give MEPs from the Greens/EFA group key information, such as how many people were being held at the centre, and that they had not been allowed to access their cells. Guarda said that testimony gathered from those they were able to speak to depicted a daily existence defined by “limbo and alienation”. Citing an official register of “critical events”, she said there had been six attempts by people held at the centre to kill themselves since mid-May, as well as other acts of self-harm. “Whether they want to hide the truth about the conditions of life inside the detention centre, something is not clear,” said Guarda, who also described “sweltering” heat at the facility. Rome’s prefect office, which has overall responsibility for Italy’s offshore migrant processing centres in Albania, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Guardian. Neither did Medihospes, the Italian cooperative that manages the facilities. People intercepted in Italian waters disembark at the Albanian port of Shëngjin in November 2023. …