"There is nothing to worry about concerning the placing of facilities in our territory that will be utilized to host migrants from Italy," Pjerin Ndreu, the Mayor of Lezha told ANSA.

The municipality governed by the mayor includes the areas of Shengjin and Gjader, the areas mentioned in the agreement where the Italian government intends building the migrant centers.

Ndreu said that he cannot understand the reason why "there is so much fuss" over this issue, highlighting the fact that "these are closed facilities: the persons who will arrive here will not be able to circulate freely outside them or outside the area which will also be kept under close surveillance."

Mayor cites Afghan example as reassurance

Shengjin is an area in the northeast of Albania, with slightly less than 10,000 inhabitants. In the summer of 2021, some of its hotels hosted approximately 3,000 Afghan nationals: some were political refugees, others translators and other staff that had worked with the Americans and had been evacuated out of Kabul to avoid Taliban retaliatory acts.

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"A couple of hundred of them are still here", explained the Albanian Mayor, assuring that "everything went smoothly. There were no problems. And the Afghan nationals were free to circulate and move around, they were not living in a restricted area.

According to the Mayor even the fear of possible negative repercussions on tourism is also ill-placed, an issue which was voiced by the President of the Parliament Agron Gjekmarkaj. "It is true that the migrants will arrive at the port of Shengjin, but we must know that the activities at the port are mostly limited. There are no tourist boats or ferry lines there," he explained.

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"Furthermore, according to the agreement only disembarking and identification procedures will take place there, the migrants will then be transferred inland, in Gjader, where the shelter will be built," he added.

Opposition is 'political' thinks mayor

The mayor remembers that when the Afghans arrived in 2021, similar controversies arose. "However, tourism was not affected by it as the figures show, to the contrary the sector grew significantly. There are foreigners who are buying homes and apartments [here]."

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The Mayor of Lezha is a party member of the same Socialist party to which Premier Edi Rama belongs. Lezha told ANSA, "all these rumors are driven by political motives": Rama has become the target of numerous attacks from the cente-right opposition, which accuses him of having acted for personal gain and without transparency."

In an attempt to silence the controversy, the Albanian government has published the entire Memorandum of Understanding so that it can be discussed in parliament.