An Italian navy ship has transported the first 12 migrants from newly opened asylum processing centres in Albania back to Italy, following a court ruling in Rome. The court decision, issued on Friday, poses a challenge to a five-year agreement between Italy and Albania for Tirana to accommodate 3,000 migrants per month intercepted by the Italian coast guard. The migrants will undergo screening in Albania to determine their eligibility for asylum in Italy or potential return to their home countries.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has lauded this arrangement as a groundbreaking approach to managing illegal migration. However, the court in Rome refused to sanction the deportation of 12 of the migrants, citing concerns about their safety in their countries of origin – Bangladesh and Egypt. This judgment thwarted the implementation of the migration plan and sparked criticism from Meloni, who questioned the court’s authority to decide which countries are deemed safe.
The Italian navy ship retrieved the 12 migrants from the port of Shengjin, located 66 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of Tirana. Earlier in the week, four other migrants had been turned away from the processing centres, two due to health vulnerabilities and two for being minors. According to Italian law, the detention of each migrant must be reviewed by specialised migration courts in Italy.
Meloni, expressing dissatisfaction with the court’s ruling, vowed to convene a Cabinet meeting to address the issue. The Interior Minister, Matteo Piantedosi, stated that the government plans to challenge the ruling. The court’s determination that countries like Egypt and Bangladesh are unsafe presents a significant barrier to the Albanian programme, potentially rendering it unfeasible.
While neither Bangladesh nor Egypt is experiencing war or major refugee crises, the judges justified their decision based on international precedents that acknowledge discrimination or persecution in any part of a country as valid grounds for safety concerns. Italy has agreed to accept migrants granted asylum, with rejected applicants facing deportation back to their home countries from Albania.
The decision to delegate asylum-seeker accommodation to a non-EU nation has garnered support from countries grappling with high migrant arrivals. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen commended the initiative as innovative in addressing migration challenges within the EU. Nevertheless, human rights groups view the agreement as setting a perilous precedent.
Reporting from Tirana, Semini contributed to this article. For further coverage on global migration, visit https://apnews.com/hub/migration.