Italy's plan to open migrant camps in Albania faces more delays

ROME (Reuters) - A controversial plan in Italy to set up detention camps in Albania for migrants picked up at sea has again been delayed, with a source close to the matter saying on Thursday it was a few weeks behind schedule.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had announced an Aug. 1 inauguration date for the facilities during a visit to Albania in June. Earlier, her government had hoped to make them operational by spring.

The source, who couldn't be named because he wasn't authorized to speak on the matter, declined to provide a new date for the opening of the camps, but said delays were partly due to hot weather in Albania, which was limiting working hours for builders.

Last week, cabinet undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano - a close Meloni aide - was cited by Italian media as saying the facilities' inauguration was delayed by a few weeks.

Meloni's right-wing government signed a deal with Albania last year for the camps as part of its efforts to curb immigration, saying they would process some 36,000 migrants a year via two facilities, one at the port of Shengjin and another in Gjader.

Opposition parties and human rights groups denounced the plan, which resembles a now-abandoned similar migrant deportation deal between Britain and Rwanda.

Rights group Amnesty International this week said the project was "a stain on the Italian government."

"It's shameful that despite all the criticism and concerns raised by human rights bodies, the Italian government has decided to go ahead with this agreement," said Eve Geddie, director of Amnesty's European Institutions Office.

Italy expect to spend a total of 670 million euros ($722.19 million) over five years for the camps, and Meloni has said asylum requests would be processed within 28 days, instead of several months currently.

($1 = 0.9277 euros)

(Reporting by Angelo Amante and Alvise Armellini, Editing by Bernadette Baum)