Albania says only Italy allowed to operate migrant asylum centres in the country

Albania’s Prime Minister, Edi Rama, said Tirana has turned down many requests from other EU countries to take in thousands of asylum seekers but has made an exception for Italy (Boglarka Bodnar/MTI/AP)

Albania’s prime minister said on Tuesday that Tirana has turned down many requests from other European Union countries to take in thousands of asylum seekers but made an exception for Italy.

An Italian navy ship is expected to dock in the port of Shengjin with the first group of 16 migrants who were intercepted in international waters and whose asylum applications will be processed in two centres in Albania instead of in Italy, under a five-year agreement between the two countries.