The last 12 exiles remaining in Albania are already on their way to Italy, confirming the failure of Meloni’s plan. international

Even before setting foot in Italy, the 16 Egyptians and Bangladeshis in exile in Albania may have already understood that it is a complex country. Eventually, despite all the detours, they reached there anyway. Following the departure of the first four on Wednesday, the same day of their arrival, due to two being minors and the other two being in vulnerable circumstances, the last 12 people remaining in the Gazadar detention camp set off to the beach this Saturday at nine o’clock Happened. From Shengjin port on an Italian coast guard ship in the morning.

They have arrived in a blue bus, after traveling the 23 kilometers that separate the detention center from the coast. They were wearing the black uniforms provided to them at the internment camp and each carried a black bag. Within a few minutes they boarded the boat, which immediately set sail. His departure follows a Friday ruling by a Rome court that ordered his immediate transfer to Italy. The Justice has established that they cannot be detained at the border, in this case in Albania, in a detention center that is considered Italian soil, while their asylum request is resolved with an accelerated protocol. On the other hand, a request that has already been rejected in record time and these people can now appeal within a period of 14 days.

In the end, these 12 migrants have only been in Albania for three days. When they set foot on Italian soil in the port of Bari this afternoon – estimated to take them about five or six hours – these 16 strangers will testify to the failure of Georgia’s far-right government’s deportation plan from the beginning. Meloni in the Balkan country. Their main objective and propaganda effect for their voters was precisely to demonstrate that migrants rescued at sea would no longer reach Italy. And that, in 28 days, a controversial accelerated protocol – approved a year and a half ago – will allow their asylum request to be managed, in most cases it will be rejected and they will be deported. this is the basis of albania model, That the European Commission and several countries are looking closely at the idea of ​​replicating it.

Now it is not clear what will happen to these 12 people. They may be taken to a reception center in Italy while their asylum request is resolved. Or even in Repatriation Permanentization Centers (CPRs), where migrants whose deportation has already been decided are held, although appeals in the case are pending. A third possibility is that they are released, as asylum seekers, with a provisional residence document lasting up to six months, without being able to leave the country, without waiting for that process to be completed. If their request is ultimately denied, they will be given a removal order. But it is still not certain that he left Italy, as only one in five repatriation orders is actually executed.

Meloni initiated his plan despite potential difficulties, as the government limited the laws that would make it possible. The system has failed where it was expected to fail. Mainly in three basic points. First, as a result of a ruling by the European Court of Justice on 4 October, which radically cut the list of safe countries to whose citizens the Accelerated Protocol could be applied and excluded almost all people arriving in Italy by sea. given. This is the decision referred to by the Rome court that ordered the transfer of the migrants. Second, due to the small number of migrants to whom the protocol could ultimately be applied, given the many other legal limitations – healthy adult males in non-vulnerable circumstances were only rescued by Italian vessels in international waters – that would have entailed absurd costs. This is reflected in raising a warship to carry only 16 men. And third, the pre-selection of deportees was carried out hastily and under uncertain circumstances, which may have led to errors. Everything has come true.

In short, the preliminary examination included two minors and two adults in seriously vulnerable conditions who had suffered torture and violence in Libya and who were already found in Albania. Furthermore, according to the parliamentary delegation that spoke with them, some of the deportees claim to have already seen the island of Lampedusa at the time of their rescue. That means they could have been helped in Italian waters. Ultimately, they all come from Bangladesh and Egypt, two countries that should be considered unsafe according to the European rule.

However, despite the bleak outlook, Meloni continued to press forward. Perhaps due to the haste to release the model, which was delayed by five months in view of the European Council addressing immigration. Perhaps because he tested it, primarily with the judiciary, whom he now accuses of acting ideologically and blames for the plan not working. A new conflict is brewing between the Meloni executive and the judges.

The Italian government, in any case, wanted to express the idea that this was only the first round and that failure does not mean the end of the model. The Council of Ministers convened on Monday, which will draw up new legal patches “to remove barriers,” according to Meloni’s announcement. The Italian press reports today that it will approve a decree on safe countries. The effectiveness of these maneuvers is not very well known, as the main obstacle has been the European regime, which is irreversible. In any case, the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, has already reiterated several times that the Italian plan is only a preview of what will be implemented throughout the EU in 2026, when the new migration pact comes into force. It is understood that he is expected to get more legal coverage from then on.

The key, where much of the success or failure of this attempt to outsource the management of arrivals to third countries is at stake, is the concept of a safe country. i.e. those migrants who possibly They could be detained immediately at the border, diverted to an expedited protocol to resolve their asylum request in less time, and not a year or two, as is the case now. This is where the recent European decision comes into play, establishing that 15 of the 22 countries that Italy considers safe cannot actually be classified as safe and, therefore, their citizens are subject to the same restrictions that apply to Albania. Cannot enter rapid protocol.

The proposal excluded all the main countries of origin of immigration to Italy, such as Bangladesh, Egypt, Tunisia or Libya. The 16 migrants deported to Albania were actually Bangladeshis and Egyptians. The decision of the Court of Rome, in fact, refers to the decision of the European judicial body, the logic of which is the following: If there is an area in a country where rights are violated or there is a persecuted group, the entire area is subject to the law of the country. Should be considered unsafe. “The two countries from which migrants come, Bangladesh and Egypt, are not safe even in the light of the European Court of Justice’s decision,” the Rome decision clearly underlined.

Now the feasibility of the entire model remains up in the air, since Italy, in principle and waiting for new legal or political initiatives, can only send migrants rescued at sea from seven countries to Albania, thus reducing arrivals. With: Cabo Green, Bosnia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and, paradoxically, Albania itself.