Italy approves new decree to remove judicial opposition to migration deal with Albania

By Giada Zampano

ROME (AA) - Italy's far-right government led by Giorgia Meloni has adopted a new decree aimed at solving judicial obstacles to its controversial migration agreement with Albania.

The immediately effective decree, adopted late Monday, reduced the number of countries considered "safe" by law, shortening the list down to 19 from the previous 22, and excluding Cameroon, Colombia, and Nigeria.

Through this new decree, Rome can send migrants back to those countries using a fast-track procedure, in case they are not granted asylum under Italian laws.

The Italian government’s move came in response to a contentious ruling by Rome judges, who on Friday rejected the detention of the first group of 12 migrants sent to a newly opened reception center in Albania. Following the ruling, all the migrants were sent back to Italy.

The judges justified their decision by saying that the migrants’ countries of origin -- Bangladesh and Egypt -- were not safe enough for them to be repatriated.

The Roman court also cited a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice, which indicated that a country outside the EU cannot be deemed safe unless its whole territory is considered so.

The ruling dealt a first blow to the five-year deal between Rome and Tirana, under which two new detention centers in Albania are expected to host 3,000 migrants per month picked up by the Italian coast guard in international waters. Meanwhile, the migrants can be processed for possible asylum in Italy or sent back to their countries if their applications are rejected.

Meloni has strongly promoted the deal, saying it could become a new model also for other European countries to handle surging illegal migration.

The Italian premier attacked Rome magistrates after their ruling on Friday, claiming that it is up to the government to decide which countries are safe. She promised to move forward with the Albanian deal overcoming any judicial hurdle.

The migration agreement has been widely criticized by human rights organizations and NGOs active in the Mediterranean to rescue migrants during their often dangerous crossing to Europe.

They believe the Italy-Albania deal, offshoring migrants’ detention to a country outside of the EU, threatens human rights and conflicts with international laws.

Legal experts also criticized the new Italian decree noting it could not offer a solution for possible future issues, as EU laws would prevail in case of conflicts with national laws.