Is Italy's plan to outsource migrant crisis to Albania falling through?
FirstpostItalian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s plan to process asylum seekers in Albania has faced a setback as a Rome court has declined to detained transferred migrants, leading to their return to Italy and raising legal questions about the safety of their home countries Migrants disembark from the Italian navy ship Libra at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, as a second group of eight migrants intercepted in international waters is processed in a reception facility despite the failure with the first group in October. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s program to screen asylum seekers outside of European Union borders in Albania hit another snag when a court in Rome refused to rule on a formal request to detain seven migrants transferred to the Balkan nation last week. It is a repeat of what happened with the first 12 migrants in the program, who also were returned to Italy by another court decision last month shortly after the opening of two migrant screening centres in Albania operated by Italy. In the latest decision, the court specified that it was seeking clarification on which countries are designated as safe “only to identify which procedure to apply.” “The exclusion of a state from the list of safe countries of origin does not prevent the repatriation and/or expulsion of those migrants whose asylum applications has been rejected,’’ the court said in its ruling.