EU court rules against Italy on Albania migrant camps scheme
Conservative Giorgia Meloni's office, in a statement, called the court ruling 'surprising' and said it 'weakens policies to combat mass illegal immigration and defend national borders.'
Dario Belluccio, a lawyer who represented one of the Bangladeshi asylum-seekers in the specific case brought before the European Court of Justice, said the Albanian migrant camps scheme had effectively been killed off.
The detention facilities Italy set up in Albania have been empty for months, due to judicial obstacles.
'It will not be possible to continue with what the Italian government had envisioned before this decision ... Technically, it seems to me that the government's approach has been completely dismantled,' he told Reuters.
Meloni had presented the offshoring of asylum-seekers to camps built in Albania as a cornerstone of her tough approach to immigration, and other European countries had looked to the idea as a possible model.
However, the scheme stumbled on legal opposition almost as soon as it was launched last year, with Italian courts ordering the return to Italy of migrants picked up at sea and taken to Albania, citing issues with EU law.
In a long-awaited judgment, the Luxembourg-based ECJ ruled that Italy is authorized to fast-track asylum rejections for nationals from countries on a 'safe' list — a principle at the heart of the Albania scheme.
It also stated that Italy is free to decide which countries are 'safe,' but warned that such a designation should meet strict legal standards and allow applicants and courts to access and challenge the supporting evidence.
In its statement, the ECJ said a Rome court had turned to EU judges, citing the impossibility of accessing such information and thus preventing it from 'challenging and reviewing the lawfulness of such a presumption of safety.'
The ECJ also stated that a country may not be classified as 'safe' if it fails to provide adequate protection to its entire population, effectively agreeing with Italian judges who had raised this issue last year.
Meloni's office complained that the EU judgment effectively allows national judges to dictate policy on migration, 'further reducing the already limited' capacity of parliament and government to take decisions on the matter.
'This is a development that should concern everybody,' it said.
The case raised before the ECJ involved two Bangladeshi nationals who were rescued at sea by Italian authorities and taken to Albania, where their asylum claims were rejected based on Italy's classification of Bangladesh as a 'safe' country.
The detention facilities Italy set up in Albania have been empty for months, due to judicial obstacles. Last week, a report found that their construction cost was seven times more than that of an equivalent center in Italy.
Though the Albanian scheme is stuck in legal limbo, Italy's overall effort to curb undocumented migration by sea has been more successful.
There have been 36,557 such migrant arrivals to date, slightly up from the same period in 2024, but far below the 89,165 recorded over the same time span in 2023.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
A half-million young Catholics invade Rome, awaiting Pope Leo XIV at Holy Year youth festival
ROME: Hundreds of thousands of young Catholics poured into a vast field on Rome's outskirts Saturday for the weekend highlight of the Vatican's 2025 Holy Year: an evening vigil, outdoor slumber party and morning Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV that marks his first big encounter with the next generation of Catholics. Leo will surely like what he sees: For the past week, bands of young Catholics from around the world have invaded the area around St. Peter's Square for their special Jubilee celebration, in this Holy Year in which 32 million people are expected to descend on Rome to participate in a centuries-old pilgrimage to the seat of Catholicism. The young people have been traipsing through cobblestoned streets in color-coordinated t-shirts, praying the Rosary and singing hymns with guitars, bongo drums and tambourines shimmying alongside. Using their flags as tarps to shield them from the sun, they have taken over entire piazzas for Christian rock concerts and inspirational talks, and stood for hours at the Circus Maximus to confess their sins to 1,000 priests offering the sacrament in a dozen different languages. On Saturday, they began arriving at the Tor Vergata field on the eastern flank of Rome for the culmination of their Jubilee celebration — the encounter with Leo. After walking five kilometers (three miles) from the nearest subway station, they passed through security checks, picked up their boxed meals and set up camp, backpacks and sleeping bags at the ready and umbrellas planted to give them shade. Leo, who was elected in May as the first American pope, was flying in by helicopter Saturday evening to preside over the vigil and a question-and-answer session. He was then returning to the Vatican for the night and coming back for a popemobile romp and Mass on Sunday morning. A mini World Youth Day, 25 years later It all has the vibe of a World Youth Day, the Catholic Woodstock festival that St. John Paul II inaugurated and made famous in 2000 in Rome at the very same Tor Vergata field. Then, before an estimated 2 million people, John Paul told the young pilgrims they were the 'sentinels of the morning' at the dawn of the third millennium. Officials had initially expected 500,000 youngsters this weekend, but Leo hinted the number might reach 1 million. 'It's a bit messed up, but this is what is nice about the Jubilee,' said Chloe Jobbour, a 19-year-old Lebanese Catholic who was in Rome with a group of more than 200 young members of the Community of the Beatitudes, a France-based charismatic group. She said, for example, it had taken two hours to get dinner Friday night, as the KFC was overwhelmed by orders. The Salesian school that offered her group housing is an hour away by bus. But Jobbour, like many here this week, didn't mind the discomfort: It's all part of the experience. 'I don't expect it to be better than that. I expected it this way,' she said, as members of her group gathered on church steps near the Vatican to sing and pray before heading out to Tor Vergata. There was already one tragedy before the vigil began: The Vatican confirmed that an Egyptian 18-year-old, identified as Pascale Rafic, had died while on the pilgrimage. Leo met Saturday with the group she was traveling with and extended his condolences to her family. The weather has largely cooperated: While Italian civil protection crews had prepared for temperatures that could have reached 34C (93F) or higher this week, the mercury hasn't surpassed 30C (85F) and isn't expected to. Romans inconvenienced, but tolerant Those Romans who didn't flee the onslaught have been inconvenienced by the additional hordes on the city's notoriously insufficient public transport system. Residents are sharing social media posts of outbursts by Romans angered by kids flooding subway platforms and crowding bus stops that have complicated their commutes to work. But other Romans have welcomed the enthusiasm the youngsters have brought. Premier Giorgia Meloni offered a video welcome, marveling at the 'extraordinary festival of faith, joy and hope' that the young people had brought to the Eternal City. 'I think it's marvelous,' said Rome hairdresser Rina Verdone, who lives near the Tor Vergata field and woke up Saturday to find a gaggle of police congregating outside her home as part of the massive, 4,000-strong operation mounted to keep the peace. 'You think the faith, the religion is in difficulty, but this is proof that it's not so.' Verdone had already made plans to take an alternate route home Saturday afternoon, that would require an extra kilometer (half-mile) walk, because she feared the 'invasion' of kids in her neighborhood would disrupt her usual bus route. But she said she was more than happy to make the sacrifice. 'You think of invasion as something negative. But this is a positive invasion,' she said.
Al Arabiya
10 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Guatemalan officials plan to visit ‘Alligator Alcatraz' detainees
The Guatemalan government on Friday said it has arranged for its officials to visit a notorious US migrant detention center to check on 14 detainees from Guatemala housed there. The facility, dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' due to its location in the swamps of the Everglades in southern Florida, has come under fire by both environmentalists and critics of US President Donald Trump's crackdown on migration, who consider the facility to be inhumane. Guatemala's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement it had requested permission from US officials to visit the detained Guatemalans 'to identify, interview and learn about their situations and conditions.' The statement said Guatemalan officials are set to visit on August 7. 'Until this moment, we have confirmed the nationalities of 14 Guatemalans held there – all men of legal age,' the statement added. Trump visited the facility in July, boasting about the harsh conditions and joking that the reptilian predators will serve as guards. 'A lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops in the form of alligators – you don't have to pay them so much,' Trump said. Earlier this week, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said 30 Mexican nationals were being held at 'Alligator Alcatraz' as well. The current facility consists of bunk beds inside cages made of metal fencing, and can house 1,000 people currently. New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report last month detailing abuse and degrading treatment suffered by migrants housed at multiple detention centers in Florida.
Al Arabiya
11 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Up to a million young Catholics expected for grand Pope Leo vigil
Up to a million young Catholics are expected to gather Saturday for a nighttime vigil led by Pope Leo XIV — the culmination of a weeklong pilgrimage marking a key event in the Jubilee holy year. The 'Jubilee of Youth,' an initiative by the Vatican inviting Catholics aged 18 to 35 to the heart of the global Church, has brought thousands of pilgrims from across the world to Rome. This year's gathering comes just under three months after 69-year-old Leo — the first American pope — assumed the papacy. Pilgrims waving flags and singing religious songs have packed the streets of the Italian capital all week in anticipation of his final address to the youth. 'I feel mainly curiosity, as we don't know him very well yet,' said Alice Berry, 21, a student from Paris. 'What does he have to say to us? What is his message for young people?' Uncertainty, anxiety Throughout the week, the Church has organized events across the city, including at Circus Maximus, where roughly 1,000 priests were available on Friday to hear confessions. About 200 white gazebos were set up at the ancient Roman chariot track, with priests offering guidance in 10 languages. Spanish was among the most commonly heard languages on Rome's streets. The pilgrimage unfolds at a time of rising economic uncertainty and climate anxiety among young people worldwide. Many pilgrims said they hoped the Vatican would address major global issues including the environment, economic inequality, and ongoing wars. Samarei Semos, 29, traveled three days from Belize to attend. 'We are still trying to understand his leadership,' she said of Pope Leo, adding she hopes he will speak out about challenges facing 'third world countries.' The gathering also comes amid widespread concern over the humanitarian crisis in Israel-blockaded Gaza, and more than three years into Russia's war in Ukraine. Night vigil The Vatican has praised youth from war-torn nations like Ukraine and Syria for making the journey, and Pope Leo has repeatedly urged participants to 'pray for peace.' Earlier this week, he told the assembled young people that their voices 'will be heard to the end of the earth.' According to the Vatican, youth from more than 146 countries are represented at the event. The climactic mass will be held in Rome's Tor Vergata district, where a large open-air space and new stage have been prepared. The area hosted the last youth jubilee 25 years ago, under Pope John Paul II. Over 4,300 volunteers and more than 1,000 police officers are involved in organizing and securing the event. In an unprecedented move, Pope Leo also held a special mass on Tuesday for Catholic social media influencers, signaling the Church's intent to engage digitally savvy youth. Rome authorities have tightened security throughout the city as a record influx of both tourists and pilgrims crowds the streets.
