Italy’s PM Meloni determined to continue sending migrants to Albania

Giorgia Meloni’s program to usage detention centres successful Albania has faced galore ineligible challenges and quality rights criticism.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has doubled down connected her government’s plans to nonstop migrants and asylum seekers to detention centres successful Albania, contempt absorption from Italian judges and the European Union’s apical court.

Speaking astatine a acme successful Rome alongside Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Meloni said her right-wing authorities was “determined” to forge up with its strategy of sending migrants and asylum seekers extracurricular the EU portion their claims are processed.

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In a woody approved by the Albanian Parliament successful February 2024, the Eastern European state agreed to clasp up to 3,000 migrants and asylum seekers astatine immoderate 1 clip successful 2 Italian-run processing centres located adjacent the larboard of Shengjin.

Under the program astatine the time, the migrants and asylum seekers would beryllium held for periods of astir a month. It was expected that up to 36,000 radical a twelvemonth could beryllium sent from Italian custody to Albania implicit an archetypal play of 5 years.

According to the deal, radical would beryllium screened initially connected committee the ships that rescue them earlier being sent to Albania for further screening.

The centres were meant to beryllium operated nether Italian instrumentality with Italian information and staff. Italian judges would perceive the migration cases via video from Rome.

The statement was denounced by rights groups, with the International Rescue Committee describing it arsenic “dehumanising“. Amnesty International condemned it arsenic “illegal and unworkable”.

As of August 1, Italy saw 36,557 migrant arrivals successful 2025. That fig is somewhat up from the aforesaid play of 2024, but acold beneath the 89,165 recorded implicit the aforesaid clip span successful 2023.

Following parliamentary approval, Italy sent its archetypal ship carrying asylum seekers and migrants — 10 men from Bangladesh and six from Egypt — to Albania’s Shengjin larboard successful October 2024.

But precise quickly, 4 of the men were identified arsenic “vulnerable” and sent backmost to Italy. Within 2 days, the remaining 12 men were sent backmost too, aft an Italian tribunal ruled against their detention.

Italy past sent ships of asylum seekers to Albania successful January and April 2025, contempt tribunal challenges.

Meloni’s program has been mired successful ineligible challenges from the start. Italian judges person repeatedly rejected deportations from the centres, ruling that the asylum seekers’ countries of root were not harmless capable for them to beryllium sent back.

The cases were referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which had earlier established that asylum applicants could not acquisition a fast-track process for repatriation if their location countries were not deemed safe.

The ECJ ultimately backed Italian judges successful a ruling successful August, questioning Meloni’s database of “safe countries”.

Meloni’s authorities had issued a decree establishing a database of 19 supposedly harmless countries of origin, which includes Egypt and Bangladesh. However, the EU has not classified either arsenic a harmless state of origin.

The ECJ said Italy is escaped to determine which countries are “safe”  but warned that specified a designation should conscionable strict ineligible standards and let applicants and courts to entree and situation the supporting evidence.

The ECJ besides said a state mightiness not beryllium classified “safe” if it does not connection capable extortion to its full population, agreeing with Italian judges who had raised the aforesaid contented past year.

The detention facilities successful Albania person been bare for months owed to the judicial obstacles. Earlier this year, a study recovered that their operation outgo was 7 times much than that of an equivalent centre successful Italy.