Politics Meloni remains committed to Italian refugee camps in Albania
Italy's right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wants to maintain the controversial reception centers for migrants in Albania despite several legal defeats. The government reaffirmed its "firm intention" to continue working on "so-called 'innovative solutions' to the migration phenomenon", it said in a statement following a meeting between Meloni and several ministers.
23.12.2024, 20:26
SDA
Italian courts have repeatedly thwarted the head of government's plans and have so far prevented her plans to have asylum applications from Mediterranean migrants decided outside the EU. Courts have twice lifted the detention of migrants in camps in Albania after they had previously been picked up by the authorities in the Mediterranean. They were then transferred to Italy.
The judges pointed out that the migrants in the camps did not come from safe countries to which they could be sent back. Meloni had tried to save her project with a decree that included a list of 19 supposedly safe countries of origin for migrants. But even after this decree, the government suffered a legal defeat.
Meloni is now referring to a Supreme Court ruling from last week. This states that judges cannot overrule the government's decision on the classification as a safe country of origin to which a migrant should be deported following a rejected asylum application. However, courts can examine on a case-by-case basis whether the classification as a safe country of origin is actually justified.
