The dozen men will now have to be brought back to Italy.
Meloni’s post-fascist Brothers of Italy party slammed ‘politicised judges’ for ruling ‘there are no safe countries of origin’, saying on X that it made it ‘impossible’ to send back irregular migrants.
It is the second blow to the controversial scheme, after four of the original 16 migrants intercepted at sea and taken to Albania this week were discovered to be ‘vulnerable’ and had to be sent to Italy instead.
The deal states that migrants intercepted by Italian vessels within Italy’s search and rescue area be taken straight to Albania for processing, excluding those considered vulnerable by law.
Meloni’s government has said it hopes the scheme will allow the majority of migrants to be rapidly repatriated.
Rome recently expanded to 22 countries its list of ‘safe’ countries of origin — defined as states where it deems there is no persecution, torture or threat of indiscriminate violence warranting the granting of asylum.
But on the list are nations that include areas not considered safe.
A recent ruling by the European Court of Justice stipulates that EU member states can only designate whole countries as safe, not parts.
After the group of 16 migrants were transported from Italian waters to Albania, arriving Wednesday, Meloni hailed the scheme as a ‘new, courageous, unprecedented path’ and said other EU leaders were interested.
But human rights groups question whether there will be sufficient protection for asylum seekers in the centres in Albania.
Italy’s two processing centres in that non-EU country will be operated under Italian law, with Italian security and staff, and judges hearing cases by video from Rome.
Source link : https://www.newagebd.net/post/europe/248104/italy-judges-reject-first-migrant-detentions-in-albania
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Publish date : 2024-10-18 19:31:00
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