LONDON

Under a controversial plan, a ship from Italy embarked to Albania carrying a first group of migrants whose asylum claims will be processed there, said media reports on Monday.

The first group of migrants on board the Libra, an Italian navy ship, headed to Albania to be processed in Italian-run centers set up in the Balkan country, some 170 kilometers (106 miles) from Italy across the Strait of Otranto, reported Italian news agency ANSA.

The migrants, all men who were rescued at sea, have reportedly been screened on board to make sure that they came from “safe” countries and are not vulnerable.

Last week, the centers in Schengjin and Gjiader became operational and will have to accommodate the transferred migrants as part of the initiative by Italy’s Interior Ministry, said the report.

The centers "are similar to those in Italy" with "light detention" regimes, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said earlier, adding: "There is no barbed wire, there is health care.”

The move sparked a backlash from human rights groups.

In January, Amnesty International was among those that voiced concern over the plan, urging lawmakers to reject what they called the "unworkable, harmful and unlawful" migration deal with Albania.

The Italian scheme is reminiscent of a controversial UK plan to send asylum seekers to the African nation of Rwanda that faced multiple court challenges.