MILAN (AP) — An Italian naval ship carrying migrants was en route Wednesday to Albania to process asylum applications under a five-year contract to deal with asylum applications outside the borders of the European Union that have already hit a legal obstacle.

An Italian Interior Ministry spokesman confirmed the naval ship Libra was heading to the Balkan nation, but declined to say how many migrants were on board or when it would arrive.

Italian daily La Repubblica reported that of 1,200 migrants who arrived on Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa in the past two days, only eight adult men traveling without families met the criteria to be screened in Albania, including coming from countries considered ” safe”. for repatriation.

The ship, which can carry 200 people in addition to the crew, is expected in the Albanian port of Shengjin on Friday morning.

It is only the second transfer since two centers started operating last month. The first batch of migrants had to be returned to Italy after a court in Rome ruled that their countries of origin – Bangladesh and Egypt – were not safe enough to be sent back.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni envisioned the two centers hosting up to 3,000 migrants a month as a way to help Italy manage migrant arrivals on its southern shores, but rights activists criticized the deal as setting a dangerous precedent.

Meloni, who leads Italy’s first far-right-led government since the end of World War Two, criticized the Rome court’s decision and said that deeming countries such as Bangladesh and Egypt unsafe meant virtually all migrants would be excluded from Albania’s program, making it impossible to achieve.