At the invitation of the Italian Ministry of the Interior, the United Nations Refugee Agency will play a "monitoring and consultant" role in the two centers in Albania for identification and repatriation procedures for an initial duration of three months, Top Channel reported.

– The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) was officially invited by the Italian Ministry of the Interior to monitor the implementation of the Protocol and guarantee "the rights and dignity of those who will be in the camp". The presence of UNHCR staff is a consolidated practice, in line with the UN agency's mandate to monitor the implementation of the 1951 Refugee Convention and ensure the protection of refugees, the television added.

The UNHCR did not participate in the negotiations between Rome and Tirana on the drafting of the Protocol, but after a series of meetings in which the Italian government "provided additional information" on its implementation and "reaffirmed its strong desire for it to be in accordance with the law and international standards".

During the first, three-month, contractual period, UNHCR "will strive to improve the protection of asylum seekers and refugees by identifying and reporting to the relevant authorities any non-compliance with international human rights and refugee law and standards of good practice, and will work to improve safeguards."

The plan envisages that migrants who tried to cross by boat to Italy, and were intercepted by Italian authorities in the Mediterranean, would be taken to centers in Albania.

The five-year contract for the reception of migrants, with the possibility of renewal, was signed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart Edi Rama in Rome at the beginning of November last year. It envisages the accommodation in Albania of 3.000 migrants per month picked up by the Italian Coast Guard in international waters. Since it takes about a month to process each request, the number sent to Albania can reach 36 thousand in a calendar year. Italy has agreed to take in those granted asylum. Those whose applications are rejected will face deportation directly from Albania.

The two centers in Albania will cost Italy 670 million euros in the next five years.

The centers were first announced to be operational in May, then in August, but "due to unfinished works in the accommodation camp in the former Albanian military base Gjadr" they have not yet been put into operation.

The reception center in the famous port city of Shenzhen is ready to accept migrants.