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(Bloomberg) — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni vowed to push ahead with a contentious plan to send asylum seekers to Albania after a court in Rome raised objections.
Earlier this week, an Italian naval vessel delivered the first group of asylum seekers to Albania as part of a controversial deal signed by Italy and Albania last year. Still, on Friday, an Italian court ruled against the government’s plan to detain 12 migrants at newly opened centers in the Balkan country.
The court said the migrants must be taken to Italy, arguing that it’s impossible to recognize the detainees’ countries of origin as “safe countries.” An Italian coastguard patrol boat carrying the 12 migrants has left the Albanian port of Gjader for Bari in southern Italy on Saturday morning, Ansa newswire reported.
“I have called a cabinet meeting for Monday to approve the rules that serve to overcome this obstacle,” Meloni told reporters during a visit to Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday. “I do not believe it is up to the judiciary to define which countries are safe and which are not.”
The processing hubs in Albania, which are equipped to host hundreds of asylum seekers, are under the control of Italian authorities, according to the plans unveiled last year.
The agreement has faced delays and criticism from humanitarian organizations and opposition groups, who have called it a political stunt that endangers asylum seekers. Meloni has made the offshore processing a centerpiece of her migration policy and repeatedly defended the arrangement, saying it should be a model for other European countries.
–With assistance from Alessandra Migliaccio and Alberto Brambilla.
(Updates with report on boat transfer from Albania)
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