Italy sends first asylum seekers to Albania under controversial pact

The first people to be intercepted at sea by the Italian navy under a controversial migration deal with Albania are on their way to the Balkan nation to have their asylum claims processed.

As part of the pact signed off on by Italy’s far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, a navy ship set off on Monday “with some irregular migrants onboard”, the interior ministry confirmed. The ministry did not provide a precise figure.

It is understood that all of the people being taken to Albania are men who were part of a group trying to cross the Mediterranean from Africa to Europe.

Women, children and any men with illnesses or who showed signs of torture were instead taken to the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, after screening was carried out to establish who in the group met the requirements of the deal – men originating from countries that are deemed safe, Italian media reported.

More in-depth screening of the men will be carried out when they disembark at the port of Schëngjin, after which they will be taken to a centre at a former Albanian air force site in Gjadër, where the men will be held while waiting for their asylum applications to be processed.

The interior ministry said 16 men were onboard – 10 Bangladeshis and six Egyptians. They arrived from Libya and were rescued on Sunday in international waters by the Italian coastguard. The ship is expected to arrive in Albania on Wednesday morning.

As part of the Italy-funded deal, three facilities were formally opened in Albania last week: a centre with a capacity to host 880 asylum seekers, a pre-deportation centre known as a CPR with 144 places, and a small prison with 20 places.

The pact, which human rights associations say is in breach of international law but which the EU has tacitly endorsed, was signed by Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, in November last year.

Related: Italy’s migrant pact with Albania makes no sense. So what’s the real reason Starmer is showing interest? | Lea Ypi

Meloni said at the time that in exchange for Rami’s backing for the centres, she would do everything in her power to support Albania’s accession to the EU.

The deal will cost Italy €670m (£560m) over five years. The facilities are being run by Italy and will fall under Italian jurisdiction. Albanian guards will provide external security.

Meloni has said officials will try to process asylum requests within 28 days, much quicker than the months it currently takes in Italy. Albania will only process the applications of people from countries designated as “safe” by Italy, a list that has recently expanded from 15 nations to 21. The updated list includes Bangladesh, Egypt, Ivory Coast and Tunisia, among others. In the previous year, 56,588 people from those countries made their way to Italy.

The vast majority of requests are expected to be rejected because the countries the applicants come from are considered safe, which automatically limits the scope for asylum to be granted. Those whose requests are turned down will be detained before their eventual repatriation.

The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, was criticised by human rights groups and his Labour party backbenchers after expressing “great interest” in the migration pact during a meeting with Meloni in Rome last week while vowing to send £4m to support her crackdown on irregular migration.

Meloni once said Italy should repatriate migrants and then “sink the boats that rescued them”. In the past she has also called for a naval blockade of north Africa.