Court ruling is setback for Italy’s plan to send asylum seekers to Albania
Al JazeeraUnder the deal, people from ‘safe’ countries are to be held in Albania while their claims for asylum are processed. Seven asylum seekers have been sent back to Italy from Albania after a court in Rome refused a formal request to detain them in the Balkan nation, a setback for a contentious programme championed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. According to a five-year deal agreed to by Meloni and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Albania would allow Italy to run two processing centres on its territory with the capacity to screen up to 3,000 people a month to determine if they qualify for asylum or should be returned to their home countries. The first 12 asylum seekers sent to Albania were returned to Italy after another court decision in October, shortly after the screening centres were opened. In both cases, the Italian courts referred the cases to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg to rule if the asylum seekers’ countries of origin are considered safe for repatriation.