Giorgia Meloni vows to fight court ruling blocking Albania migrant deal

Rome court says those sent to the offshore camp should be brought back to Italy in dispute over ‘safe countries’

Giorgia Meloni has vowed to press ahead with Italy’s controversial policy to divert migrants to Albania despite a court ruling blocking the move.
The Italian prime minister’s multi-million euro proposal to send asylum seekers to two processing centres in northern Albania was thrown into doubt after a Rome court on Friday ruled the first group of migrants taken there aboard a navy vessel should be brought to Italy.
Italy’s experiment in offshore processing is being viewed with interest by other European countries and Britain, while the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has called for the deportation of rejected asylum seekers.
Ms Meloni dismissed Friday’s court ruling as “prejudiced” and said it was up to her government to determine which countries were safe and which were not.
“Italians have asked me to stop illegal immigration and I will do everything possible to keep my word and stop human trafficking,” the prime minister told the media.
She is preparing an urgent decree to be put to a cabinet meeting on Monday to override the court decision, which called into question which countries were safe for the return of migrants.
The government is also considering a legal appeal. Ms Meloni’s conservative coalition had hoped to process as many as 36,000 migrants and refugees a year in Albania.
The first 16 migrants arrived at the facilities, built and financed by the Italian government in northern Albania, on Wednesday.
Four were released on arrival for health reasons or because they were minors.
The Rome court ruled the 12 others had to return to Italy because their countries of origin – Egypt and Bangladesh – could not be considered safe.
All were brought to the port of Bari on Saturday and local media reported they appeared to be in shock. Only migrants coming from a list of 22 nations Italy has classified as safe can be sent to Albania.
Egypt and Bangladesh are on the list, but a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the matter made it impossible to hold them in Albania, the Rome court said.
Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister and head of the far-right League party, attacked the judges for the decision and said: “If one of these 12 (migrants) commits a crime, rapes or kills, who will pay the consequences?’’
Government critics hailed the court decision and called for the resignation of Carlo Nordio, the justice minister, who claimed the judiciary had exceeded its powers.
“The agreement with Albania is illegal”, said Elly Schlein, the head of the main opposition Democratic Party. “To the government I say: turn around and stop. You have already wasted nearly a billion euros, money that citizens could have used for public health care.”
The five-year scheme, estimated to cost €670 million (£557 million), has been dismissed by critics as a costly public relations exercise.
Italia Viva, the party led by former prime minister Matteo Renzi, said it would file a formal complaint with the Court of Auditors on Monday, blaming the prime minister for a waste of public money.
“What we are seeing is a scandal for Italian families: that money should have gone to police, health care, youth. Not to the prime minister’s commercials,” wrote Francesco Bonifazi, an Italia Viva MP, on X.