Asylum deal with Albania

Court in Rome saws at Meloni’s “mini-Guantánamo”

Giorgia Meloni wants to have asylum procedures carried out in Albania.

(Bild: AFP/Adnan Beci)

Before taking office, Italy's head of government Giorgia Meloni made the fight against illegal migration her top priority. An asylum deal with Albania should give her some much-needed breathing space in the case. A court in Rome has now put a spoke in her already bumpy wheel.

The judiciary has rejected the internment of twelve asylum seekers currently housed in the Italian migration center in Gjadër in Albania. The measure was ordered by the Rome Police Directorate on Thursday. They are among the 16 migrants (ten from Bangladesh and six from Egypt) who were brought to Albania on Wednesday on the Italian navy ship "Libra". Four migrants are already on their way back to Italy.

They are either minors or have serious health problems. According to the court ruling, the twelve remaining asylum seekers are now also to be returned to Italy.

ECJ ruling contradicts Meloni's plan
Due to this order, they cannot remain in the Albanian facilities, but they cannot be released in Albania either. "The two countries from which the migrants come, Bangladesh and Egypt, are not safe even in the light of a ruling by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg last October," wrote the judges in Rome. It was initially unclear whether the migrants would be returned to Italy immediately or whether the proceedings would go to a higher court.

Prime Ministers Rama and Meloni signed the agreement at the end of 2023.

(Bild: AP/LaPresse)

The judges' decision is based on a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) from the beginning of October this year. This states that an EU country can only define a third country as a safe country of origin under asylum law if the conditions for this are met throughout the entire territory of the state, according to the European Court of Justice.

Albania plan on the brink
The decision of the court in Rome seriously calls into question the basis of the entire Albanian plan, on which the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni intends to spend more than 600 million over five years.

The regulations introduced by the Italian government assume that repatriations can be carried out in an accelerated procedure (four weeks) if they involve citizens from a list of countries that are considered "safe" for migrants.

Dispute: What is "safe"?
However, the European Court of Justice has ruled that this condition is only met by countries in which all categories of people, without exception, are safe from discrimination. Many of the 22 countries classified as "safe" by Italy would not achieve this status. It is therefore not possible to detain foreigners in the refugee camps designated for this "accelerated procedure".

The judge's decision triggered strong reactions. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi announced an objection to the judge's decision. "Judges who are in favor of immigrants can run in the elections, but they should know that we will not be intimidated," reads an official statement from the party of Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.

The left-wing opposition party AVS said that the Meloni government's entire Albania plan was on the rocks because of the ruling.

Migrants on their way back to Italy
Four of the 16 migrants from Bangladesh and Egypt who arrived in Albania on Wednesday are on their way back to Italy. Two migrants explained that they were minors and therefore not covered by the agreement between Rome and Tirana, which only provides for the procedure for adult men. Two other men complained of serious health problems. The four were brought back to the navy ship "Libra", which was heading for Italy, on a patrol boat.

Italy is one of the countries particularly affected by the movement of refugees from Africa to Europe via the Mediterranean. The numbers were particularly high last year: almost 160,000 migrants reached Italy's shores on boats. Currently, fewer than half as many people are arriving than a year ago. Nevertheless, tens of thousands are still making their way in boats that are often barely seaworthy. The Italian experiment is being closely followed by other EU countries.