Italian judges ruled Friday against the detention of the first migrants sent for processing in Albania, dealing a major blow to a flagship policy of Giorgia Meloni’s government. The Immigration section of the Civil Court of Rome ordered the migrants returned to Italy because they do not meet the criteria for detention in Albania as their countries of origin are “unsafe.”
The Italian minister of justice reacted to the ruling saying, “it cannot be the judiciary that defines a state as more or less safe—it is a high-level political decision.” Justice minister Carlo Nordio also pointed out that such a judicial decision compromises the delicate relations between Italy and Mediterranean countries. “We cannot leave high politics to the judiciary, these decisions can create diplomatic incidents, such as defining a friendly country like Morocco as unsafe.” Further, the criteria the court used would result in a paradox:
If we considered countries unsafe where there are rules that we have repudiated, such as corporal punishment or the death penalty, then not even the United States would be a safe country and should be expelled from the United Nations.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the court’s decision “prejudicial” and an effort to nullify the agreement between Rome and Tirana on extra-EU hotspots—which has been discussed in Brussels for days—and above all, would greatly complicate her government’s fight against human traffickers.
The five-year agreement, estimated to cost 160 million euros annually, calls for male asylum seekers intercepted by the Italian navy or coast guard vessels in international waters—but within Italy’s search and rescue area—to be held in Albania. From there, a determination will be made as to which individuals come from ‘safe’ countries, allowing for fast-track repatriation.
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. On the list are nations that include areas not considered safe. On Friday, the Immigration section of the Civil Court of Rome relied upon a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) which stipulates that EU member states can only designate whole countries as safe, not parts.
Therefore, the Italian judges ruled against the detention of the first migrants—16 Bangladeshi and Egyptian men—saying the ECJ meant they do not meet the criteria for detention in Albania and must instead be brought to Italy. Four of 16 were identified as “vulnerable” and were immediately sent back to Italy. The remaining 12 boarded an Italian coast guard vessel on Saturday which brought them to Brindisi in southern Italy, Albanian port officials said.
Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Rome would appeal the court’s decision. Prime Minister Meloni responded to the ruling on X, saying “Italians have asked me to stop illegal immigration, and I will do everything possible to keep my word.”
Meloni’s party, Fratelli d’Italia noted on X that a “politicized fringe of the judiciary thinks it can use justice to subvert the popular vote. It won’t succeed, we have the Italians on our side.”
