Italy's government furious as top court orders compensation for migrants
The case was brought by Eritrean nationals who were held on the Diciotti ship after then Interior Minister Salvini denied them and dozens of other migrants permission to disembark at an Italian port.
Italy's Court of Cassation ruled on Thursday that Rome must compensate the migrants, instructing another court to determine the sum.
The judges found "the obligation to rescue at sea...is a duty" imposed on everyone and prevails over measures "intended to combat illegal immigration".
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has made curbing the arrival of migrant boats from North Africa one of her key battles, defended Salvini, who is now deputy prime minister in her hard-right coalition.
"The government will have to compensate, with the money of honest Italian citizens who pay taxes, people who tried to enter Italy illegally," she wrote on X.
Meloni said it was "frustrating" to have to fork out money for compensation "while we do not have enough resources to do everything that needs doing".
Speaking to reporters in Milan, Salvini said that "if some judges love illegal migrants so much, they should take them into their homes and maintain them."
The ruling also sparked an angry reaction from Salvini's anti-immigration League party, which slammed it as "absurd".
"Let these judges pay out of their own pockets if they love illegal immigrants so much," it said in a statement.
In December last year, Salvini was acquitted in a trial where he stood accused of kidnapping after keeping migrants at sea in 2019.
Prosecutors had sought to try Salvini in the 2018 Diciotti case as well, but parliament voted against stripping him of his parliamentary immunity.
Meloni's government has adopted a tough stance against the tens of thousands of migrants who each year attempt the perilous Mediterranean crossing to Italy in rickety boats.
Over 7,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the start of the year compared to 4,895 during the same period in 2024, according to interior ministry data.
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