The European Parliament awarded its journalism prize on Wednesday to an investigation of Italy’s migrant centres in Albania and allegations of rights abuses linked to the arrangement. The winning team was Giacomo Zandonini of Italy and Maite Vermeulen of the Netherlands.
Their investigation, published by De Correspondent, examined how the Italy-Albania migration deal moved people into centres beyond Italy’s borders. The journalists spent 18 months on the project.
They filed more than thirty Freedom of Information requests across six European countries, and sought information from the European Commission, the Council and Frontex. They also traced financial records and interviewed centre staff, detained migrants, lawyers, lawmakers, government representatives and residents in Albania.
The investigation’s conclusion is blunt: “The deal is a blueprint for how to erode human rights, undermine the European rule of law, and normalize far-right views on migration.”
The investigation traced spending and barriers to scrutiny
The winning work, published in January 2026, was titled “Cuffed, caged, cast away: this is Europe's 'innovative solution' for unwanted migrants.” Photo editor Bebe Blanco Agterberg, information designer Sharon Coone and photographer Francesco Bellina also contributed.
Zandonini and Vermeulen estimated that authorities spent around €259 million on the facilities during their first two years of operation. They counted 256 people detained in that period, an estimated outlay of approximately €1 million per person.
The report examined the centres in Shëngjin and Gjadër. They were built to receive asylum seekers rescued at sea while Italian authorities reviewed their claims.
The journalists said authorities denied them entry to the Italian-run centres. Basic information, including how many people were detained, was also withheld. Their account describes spending routed through emergency procedures that bypassed public procurement, and staff required to sign nondisclosure agreements.
The centres moved from sea transfers to detention before deportation
Italy and Albania signed their agreement in November 2023. It established an identification centre at Shëngjin and a detention centre at Gjadër, with Italy retaining jurisdiction over both. The arrangement entered into force on 23 February 2024 and is set to run for five years, with automatic renewal afterward.
The initial plan transferred people intercepted or rescued at sea. Italy carried out three operations between October 2024 and January 2025, forcibly transferring 74 people from international waters to Albania. Twelve, about 16 percent, were later identified as minors or otherwise vulnerable and sent to Italy. Italian courts declined to validate the remaining men’s detention, stopping the initial transfers.
| Operation | People transferred and reported nationalities |
|---|---|
| October 2024, navy ship Cassiopea | 16 men: 10 from Bangladesh and 6 from Egypt |
| November 2024, navy ship Libra | 9 people: 7 from Bangladesh and 1 from Egypt |
| January 2025, navy ship Cassiopea | 49 men: 38 from Bangladesh, 8 from Egypt, 2 from Gambia and 1 from Ivory Coast |
In March 2025, the Italian government changed the ratification law to let Gjadër hold male foreign nationals already subject to expulsion orders in Italy. The amendment allowed their transfer from repatriation detention centres. Amnesty says hundreds, reportedly over 500 predominantly racialized men, have been transferred there over the past 15 months.
Amnesty describes incidents, restricted access and difficult legal safeguards
Amnesty International published a 34-page briefing on 20 August 2026, drawing on research conducted from January 2024 to June 2026. It reviewed official documents, court judgments, parliamentary and ombudsman inspection reports, and material from NGOs and news organizations.
The organization corresponded with Italy’s Interior Ministry and spoke with Italian detention ombudsmen, representatives of UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration, and two lawyers for people held in Gjadër. It did not interview detainees directly because the ministry denied its requests to enter the centres.
Amnesty recorded 42 critical incidents in Gjadër between 11 April and 16 May 2025. They included two attempted hangings, self-harm incidents and a protest in which shattered glass injured three people. Interviewees also described restraints during transfers, including Velcro hand ties.
The report says the sea route added two or three days to the journey to Shëngjin, more than 500 nautical miles from common rescue areas. Some people selected for transfer were effectively confined aboard Italian “hub ships” for up to four days before they reached Gjadër.
Amnesty also said shipboard screening failed to identify some children and people with medical or other special needs. It questioned whether confidential specialist assessments for survivors of torture or trafficking, and people with mental-health conditions, could be reliably conducted during crowded rescue operations surrounded by security personnel.
A lawyer interviewed by Amnesty said he could not meet his client before a hearing and had insufficient time to prepare a defence. He viewed monosyllabic answers recorded in asylum-hearing minutes as a sign that the client may have been intimidated.
The briefing says Italian courts and the Court of Justice of the European Union found Italian rules and practices inconsistent with EU law and lacking sufficient safeguards. Amnesty also says the Italian government pressed ahead despite court rulings ordering the release of people detained in Albania, and restricted independent monitoring and parliamentary oversight.
The prize recognizes reporting on EU rights and press freedom
Vermeulen said the arrangement was “a big PR operation, more than a policy that would actually expedite returns [of migrants].” She said it was neither cheaper nor more effective and did not deter irregular arrivals. She also argued that other EU countries could not adopt the approach without breaching human rights.
Eve Geddie, Amnesty International’s Director of European Institutions Office, said the arrangement could not be implemented consistently with Italy’s human rights obligations. She called on the EU to halt plans to expand offshore detention.
“This reality must be a wake-up call for the EU to put any future plans to expand the use of offshore detention and other externalisation tools, firmly on ice.”
The Parliament presented the award at a ceremony in its Daphne Caruana Galizia Press Room in Strasbourg. President Roberta Metsola and Vice-President Pina Picierno, who is responsible for the prize, attended. An independent European-wide jury of journalists from all EU member states selected the winner from ten shortlisted entries among 344 submissions received between 4 May and 31 July 2026 from journalists in the 27 EU countries.
The annual award honours Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, assassinated in October 2017. Metsola said the journalist’s courage continued to inspire and pledged that the Parliament would keep defending press freedom and fighting for justice.
Geddie also called for Italy to end the agreement and provide access to legal safeguards and independent monitoring. “All refugees and migrants should be able to access effective legal safeguards and benefit from independent monitoring,” she said.
