Italian Judges Block Plan to Send Migrants to Albanian Reception Centres

rome - Italian judges have ruled to send back the first group of migrants who were sent to Albania for not meeting safety criteria.

Italian judges in Rome have decided to send back the first twelve migrants who were brought to Albania by the Italian navy this week, due to safety concerns in their home countries of Egypt and Bangladesh. The migrants were placed in a reception centre in Albania, which was deemed not safe enough for them to stay by the court. The judges stated that the migrants can only regain their 'state of freedom' upon their return to Italy. An Italian navy ship will transport the migrants back to a reception centre in the southern Italian city of Bari on Saturday.

The criteria for relocating migrants to reception centres in Albania include being male, not being in a vulnerable position, and coming from safe countries. Out of the initial sixteen migrants picked up by the Italian navy in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea and taken to Albania, two were immediately sent to Italy for being considered 'vulnerable'. With the twelve migrants also returning to Italy, Prime Minister Georgia Meloni's plan to place migrants in Albanian reception centres is at risk of failing. The project, set to last for five years, is estimated to cost the Italian state between 650 and 670 million euros.

The right-wing Italian government party Lega has strongly criticized the court's decision, calling it 'absolutely unacceptable'. Lega's statement came on the same day that party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini appeared in court in Palermo for a separate case regarding the 2019 incident where he refused to let 147 migrants from the NGO ship Open Arms disembark. Salvini's lawyer has argued for his release, stating that borders are essential for maintaining peace.

On the other hand, the left-wing opposition party Five Star Movement claims that Meloni should apologize to the Italian population for the failed migrant relocation plan, referring to it as a scam that has cost the country a lot of money. The left-wing opposition parties have collectively asked the European Commission to consider initiating infringement proceedings against Italy over the agreement with Albania on migrant flows.

Italian Prime Minister Meloni dismissed the opposition's request as 'madness', accusing certain Italian parties of urging Europe to sanction their own nation and citizens just to attack the government politically. She described it as a disgrace that cannot go unnoticed.