When Italy opened migrant centres in Albania in October the plan was clear: 3,000 people a month intercepted in Italian waters would have their asylum claims processed beyond Italy’s borders, monitored by Italian police officers.

Two months later, undercover Albanian journalists posing as tourists caught up with some of those officers staying at a 5-star hotel with a pool and spa in Shëngjin, the Albanian port that houses the migrant centre.

“We came here for work, we are the security for the migrant centre […] but there are no migrants in the facilities, they have been transferred to Italy,” the officers told the Piranjat TV journalists. “It’s just us here. We are paid to act as tourists: breakfast, dinner, and sauna, all free – the Italian government pays.”