Italian Judges Challenge Government’s Asylum Policy
On Friday, a significant legal ruling emerged as Italian judges dismissed a request from the government to detain a group of migrants in a facility located in Albania. This decision mandated that the migrants be brought to Italy, marking a substantial setback for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s ambitious initiative to outsource the processing of asylum applications.
This ruling represents the first judicial assessment of the new policy since Meloni’s right-wing administration initiated its implementation. Earlier this week, the Italian Navy transported a group of migrants to a center in Albania intended for evaluating asylum claims from individuals who were originally heading toward Italy.
The judges’ decision currently affects only twelve migrants, yet it could set a precedent for future cases, raising serious questions about the viability of a strategy that had been regarded by other nations—and even the President of the European Commission—as a potential blueprint for addressing migration issues. In response to the ruling, Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi announced the government’s intention to appeal the decision, indicating readiness to escalate the matter to Italy’s highest court if necessary.
Under this controversial plan, Italy aimed to relocate migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by its naval vessels to Albania, where their asylum requests would be processed. The government specified that only “non-vulnerable” men hailing from “safe countries” would be sent to these centers. In this context, Italy classifies vulnerable individuals as those who are ill or disabled. Notably, both Egypt and Bangladesh are categorized as safe nations under Italian law.
The initial group of twelve men transferred to Albania consisted of six individuals from Bangladesh and six from Egypt. However, after spending a few days in the Albanian facility, judges ruled that they could not be lawfully detained there. The judges in Rome, called upon to review the circumstances of these migrants, concluded that, based on a recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union, the migrants did not fulfill the criteria necessary for detention in Albania.
