How far can the Meloni-Rama agreement go for refugees?

2023-11-07 08:02:00, Opinione Erion Dasho

The agreement signed between Albania and Italy for the acceptance of refugees came as a surprise to the Albanian public. The fact that 36 thousand refugee families will enter Albania every year, potentially translates into over a hundred thousand refugees per year. For those who cannot imagine such a number, it is about creating a new city the size of Durrës every year.

For parallelism, when Albania accepted the mujahedeen in 2016, their number was 3 thousand people, i.e. 30 times less than the number of refugees that will come every year from Italy. When you think that it is not a matter of a year or two, but of a continuum, the problem only gets worse and the consequences are unimaginable.

This agreement opens a large number of questions, the most important of which are:

Who are coming?

The refugees that Albania will host originate from the countries of Africa and the Middle East. Unqualified, even illiterate people come from Africa, while from the Middle East a mix of terrorists and victims of terrorism. When you consider that even a small percentage of the 100,000 will be supporters of ISIS, Boko Haram, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, etc., the outlook is not bright at all.

Why now?

Meloni had the elimination of the refugee problem on the Italian coast as a key point of his electoral program. After failing to Europeanize this problem in the face of the rejection of Macron and Scholz, he found a solution to balkanize it. Borat, for his part, calculates according to the principle "I scratch your back, you scratch mine". Surely he has planned what he will ask for in return for the considerable favor he is doing to Meloni in this difficult situation for the latter.

How quickly can the problem get worse?

Given the extremely slow pace of processing asylum applications, the number of refugees will accumulate year after year, while the number of those who will leave will be negligible. Potentially, after ten years we could have a million asylum seekers in Albania. In a political and geopolitical situation that will certainly be different from today, Albania may be left with a population as much as a third of the Albanian population itself. The most infamous but not impossible parallel is that of the Gaza Strip. Theoretically, this agreement has the potential to "turn off the gas" in Albania with irreparable consequences.

Should this deal have been discussed before?

Without discussion! Agreements with such a political, geopolitical, social, demographic, economic, etc. impact cannot be signed suddenly and served to the public as a fait accompli. A political consensus is required as a minimum, but ideally a societal consensus should have been sought, why not through a referendum. The fact that Borat signs the agreement without any prior notice shows once again how far he has gone in his authoritarian and disrespectful attitudes towards public opinion.

Will this deal encourage crime?

There is no doubt! The refugees have paid thousands of euros and risked their lives across the Sahara and the Mediterranean to reach the Italian coast. The distance of 70 km that separates Albania from Italy is negligible for them. Surely around the cities of the refugees a whole criminal infrastructure will be set up where traffickers with speedboats, vans, mules and any other means will compete to facilitate the fastest possible return of the refugees to the Italian promised land.

Is there still hope?

Of course yes! At the beginning of his government, Borat faced strong citizen protests against chemical weapons. It was the first and so far only loss of Borat and the borates. Even this time, the solution can go through a strong citizen resistance, in the block and unaffected by political differences. If it will be implemented, the Rama-Meloni agreement has the destructive potential for Albania and its consequences will suffer all Albanians, whether socialists or democrats.

Today's deal with Melon is one of the most diabolical acts that have ever crossed Borat's twisted and criminal mind. Certainly expecting a compensation from Meloni, he puts the Albanian citizens before a fait accompli that in a short-term perspective could have fatal consequences for Albania and the Albanians.

Only powerful, nationwide and daily protests until the cancellation of this agreement can and should be the only way out of this dangerous circle. If possible, the protest should start in Rinas, before the tires of Borat's plane have touched the ground. Any delay penalizes and places Albanians even in the face of existential dangers.

I wish that the Albanians will ignore the party differences and teach Borat the next lesson. Albanian society needs this...