Judge does not support the detention of migrants sent to Albania by Italy

Rome court judges have ruled that the detention of 12 people held since Wednesday in migrant identification and repatriation centers set up by Italy in Albania is not legal. It is the first major judicial blow to the Giorgia Meloni government’s plan, as, with the support of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the EU is opening up to replicating this model.

This decision was influenced by the recent ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union according to which a country can only be considered safe if it is actually completely safe. And the concept of a “safe country” is central to the implementation of the operational protocol signed by Italy and Albania a year ago for the opening of the centres: only adult males from countries considered safe should be sent there. The decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union was abolished on 4 October. In fact Many countries including Tunisia, Egypt and Bangladesh are included in this list. Of the 16 migrants initially taken to Albania, four were returned to Italy a few hours later, two because they were minors and two because they were deemed “vulnerable” – Egyptian and Bangladeshi.

“The refusal to validate detention in Albanian facilities equivalent to Italian border or transit zones is due to the impossibility of recognizing the states of origin of detained persons as ‘safe countries’, with the consequence of the inappropriateness of the border procedure and, as provided for in the Protocol, the transfer outside Albanian territory of migrants, who therefore have the right to be transported to Italy,” Luciana Sangiovanni, president of Section 13 of the Rome Court, explained in a statement. It was decided not to support the detention of this first group of migrants in the centres.