Italian authorities said they were transferring 40 migrants who did not have permission to stay in the country to Italian detention centres in Albania.
This appears to be the first time that a European Union state has sent rejected migrants to a country outside the EU that is neither their home country nor a country they had transited through.
Italian media reports that the migrants left the port of Brindisi in Italy.
The Italian government has not disclosed their nationality or other details.
The migrants will be housed in Italian-built and operated detention centres in the port of Shengjin, 66 kilometres (40 miles) northwest of the capital Tirana, and in Gjadera.
The centres were set up to process asylum applications from migrants intercepted by Italy in the Mediterranean.
However, after they opened in October, Italian courts banned authorities from using them, and small groups of migrants were returned to Italy.
It is not yet clear how long rejected asylum seekers will be able to stay in Albania.
In Italy, they can be held for up to 18 months pending deportation.
Last month, Italy's extreme government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, approved a decree that expanded the use of Albania's fast-track asylum processing centres, including the detention of people whose applications had been rejected and who had been ordered to be deported.
While the decision was in line with a recent EU Commission proposal that would allow EU countries to set up so-called “return centres”, it has not yet received full approval.
Human rights groups and lawyers say this violates the right to seek asylum and sets a dangerous precedent.
– Some experts and human rights organizations question these translations.
Migration experts interviewed by The Associated Press expressed doubts about the legality of Italy's move, which is likely to be challenged in court.
“They need to show that they are doing something about this incredibly expensive structure,” said Megan Benton of the Migration Policy Institute.
Speaking from Toulouse, France, Ms Benton said other EU countries, including the Netherlands and Uganda, were also interested in doing something similar.
Francesco Ferri, a migration specialist with Action Aid who was part of a group of NGOs and Italian lawmakers who visited Albania to monitor the movement of migrants, said:
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
