PoliticsItaly picks up refugees from Albania again
SDA
1.2.2025 - 15:48
An Italian Coast Guard ship carrying migrants from the asylum seeker centers in Albania back to Italy leaves the port of Shengjin. Photo: Vlasov Sulaj/AP/dpa
Keystone
After a new defeat for right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in court, Italy has picked up more than 40 previously interned Mediterranean refugees from Albania. A coast guard ship is taking the men, who were last housed in a camp, to the southern Italian port city of Bari. They are expected there in the evening.
Keystone-SDA
01.02.2025, 15:48
SDA
A court in Rome had previously ruled that the 43 men could enter the EU. This was the third legal defeat in a row for the leader of the right-wing party Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy). Judges had already ruled in October and November that asylum applications may not be decided outside the EU. The two specially built camps in Albania are now empty despite the high costs.
"Albania model" before the European Court of Justice at the end of February
Meloni nevertheless assured that she would stick to the plan. It is unclear whether her three-party coalition will allow further refugees to be brought there before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg rules on the "Albania model" on February 25. Essentially, this concerns the classification of migrants' home countries as so-called safe countries of origin.
The latest case involves men from Egypt and Bangladesh who had made their way to Europe from Libya. Before they could disembark, they were taken on board by the Italian navy and brought to Albania. There, Italian officials rejected all asylum applications in a fast-track procedure. However, the judges overturned these decisions.
High costs also criticized
Italy is the first country in the European Union to set up such camps outside the EU. The future of the "Albania model" is being closely monitored by other European governments. Italy is one of the countries particularly affected by the movement of refugees across the Mediterranean. In January, 3,368 new arrivals were counted, more than a year ago (2,258).
A dispute has developed between the right-wing government in Rome and the judiciary over the handling of migrants. The issue at stake is who has the authority to determine safe countries of origin. Most recently, the Supreme Court in Rome issued a ruling that appears to create leeway for the government. However, the legal situation has not yet been clarified.
The right-wing coalition accuses the judiciary of torpedoing the regulation for political reasons. Judges' associations reject this as an attempt to put pressure on the judiciary. The left-wing opposition, on the other hand, criticizes Meloni for wasting millions of euros of taxpayers' money. The costs for the construction and operation of the camps are estimated at more than 650 million euros.