On April 11, Italy transferred an initial group of 40 migrants to the Gjader center in Albania, people it said were awaiting repatriation. The group had already been issued with deportation orders and were already being held in CPRs in Italy before being transferred to Albania.

But, according to information gathered by a migrant policy coalition of organizations, Tavolo Asilo e Immigrazione, just a few days into the operations in Gjader, operatives from Italian human rights organizations were witness to several "serious" incidents, which were "strongly indicative" of issues with the center itself.

"Some of the people transferred engaged in acts of self-harm, there are difficulties accessing legal assistance, there is the absence of clear preventative communication regarding forced transfers, and methods of transportation not respectful of human dignity were observed and reported," read a statement from Tavolo Asilo e Immigrazione (TAI).

TAI recently concluded its mission in Albania for the independent monitoring of the transfer and detention of migrants in the Gjader center.

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'Disembarked with hands tied'

"It is emblematic that people were made to travel and then disembarked with their hands tied, in violation of the regulations on the transfer of those deprived of personal freedoms," TAI stated.

Moreover, the organization added, "this show of force brought in by the government seems to correspond to an accentuated fragility of legal and organizational tools that should regulate the transfer and detention of those detained at the repatriation center in Gjader."

Evidence of this, it noted, was that "a few hours after the disembarkation, one person was already taken back to Italy since he was no longer able to be detained legally."

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'If detainees are dangerous, transfer is illegal'

Moreover, TAI noted, "it is a very serious thing that, even now, the basis for the transfer to the Gjader repatriation center for the group of the 40 people selected is not known."

The organization said that government officials had referenced a "social danger" that some of the group may be posing, but TAI said that if that was confirmed, "it would pave the way for legal assessments that are at the heart of the Italian judicial system."

The press release stated: "In fact, no type of criminal typology can be configured beyond what is expressly provided for by the law. If, in reality, the forced transfer to Albania is a punitive measure against those considered dangerous, this would be a very serious matter and entirely illegitimate, since the deportation to a CPR outside national territory would be an additional punitive measure compared with the punishment already served according to the Italian legal system."