"We don't know what can happen to us", African immigrants 'scared' of coming to Albania: We need security, otherwise...

Immigrants and asylum seekers in the capital of Tunisia expressed their opinions on the agreement between Albania and Italy for immigrants. Albania's parliament approved a deal for the country to detain thousands of asylum seekers for Italy, despite protests from opposition lawmakers and human rights groups.

Africanews  writes that for some of the people currently sheltering in a camp in Tunis, Albania is not the chosen destination for them. However, others said they were open to going to Albania, especially those fleeing war or oppression in their countries.

"We need safety and security because we don't know what will happen to us in Albania. If Europe's decision will help us, we support it and we hope they will help us because we are already running away from the war ," said Ahmed, a Sudanese.

Under the five-year agreement, Albania would host up to 3,000 migrants rescued from international waters at any one time. As asylum applications are expected to take about a month to process, the number of asylum seekers sent to Albania could reach up to 36,000 in a year.

Albania is not a member of the European Union and the idea of ??sending asylum seekers outside the bloc is controversial. The deal was hailed by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen as an example of thinking outside the box, but has been widely criticized by rights groups. The agreement, signed in November between Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, is part of Meloni's efforts to share the burden of handling migration with other European countries.