The Italian government is celebrating the decision by the European Union to add new countries to its ‘safe countries’ list. On Wednesday, April 16th, Bangladesh, Egypt, Tunisia, Colombia, India, Morocco, and Kosovo were added to the list of countries the EU deems safe, making it much harder for nationals of these nations to apply for asylum in the Union—and for EU countries to deport people back to them.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the decision a “win for Rome” referring to the policies taken by her government to curtail illegal immigration. The PM emphasized this change “would allow accelerated border procedures to be activated for migrants arriving from certain nations, as provided for by the Italy-Albania Protocol.”
As reported previously, the right-wing Italian government is working hard to deport rejected asylum seekers Italy has set up detention centers in Albania to hold people awaiting repatriation to their country of origin, but so far, activist judges have intervened to stop the deportations. Safe designation for the seven new countries will allow Italy to deport these individuals with fewer legal obstacles.
In a statement, Meloni noted as positive the proposed EU regulation that allows fast-track border procedures to potential asylum seekers from countries whose asylum approval rate is less than 20%.
