Italian court orders return of 43 migrants detained in Albania

By Yasin Gungor

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Rome court on Friday ordered the return of 43 asylum seekers who were detained in Albania under a contentious migration agreement between Italy and Albania, according to the Agenzia Nova news agency.

The ruling follows the Italian Court of Appeal’s refusal to approve the expedited expulsion of the migrants, marking the third failed attempt by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government to manage migrant processing in Albania.

The court suspended the validation of the migrants’ detention, citing interpretative conflicts within Italy’s legal system regarding EU Directive 2013/32/EU. It emphasized the need for uniform application of EU law and referred the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for a preliminary ruling.

The ECJ is expected to issue a decision Feb. 25, addressing the legality of Italy’s approach to outsourcing asylum processing.

Italian Minister for European Affairs Tommaso Foti criticized the ruling as “astonishing” and accused the judiciary of undermining the government’s efforts to manage migration effectively.

Maurizio Gasparri, a senator from Forza Italia, echoed the sentiment, claiming that the judiciary continues to obstruct security policies aimed at combating illegal migration.

The migrants, primarily from Bangladesh, Egypt, Ivory Coast and Gambia, were part of a group of 49 rescued near Lampedusa in January. Four minors and two individuals with health issues were already transferred to Italy.

Italian authorities had previously brought two other groups of migrants to Italy in October and November due to court rulings.

The Italy-Albania agreement aims to process up to 3,000 migrants monthly outside EU borders, easing pressure on Italy amid rising arrivals.