Court Ruling Undermines Italy's Migrant Diversion Plan

A Rome court ruled against detaining migrants in Albania, asserting their right to enter Italy. The decision challenges Prime Minister Meloni's strategy to redirect asylum-seekers abroad. This ruling affects 12 migrants initially relocated to Albania by the Italian navy, following a European Court of Justice decision on safe countries.

A Rome court has delivered a significant setback to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's initiative to redirect asylum-seekers by denying orders to detain migrants in Albania. The court decision emphasized the migrants' right to be relocated to Italy instead. A group of 16 migrants, rescued in the Mediterranean, had been temporarily housed in Albania's Gjader facility.

The court cited the recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling, underscoring that only nations deemed entirely safe could accept asylum-seekers. The ECJ's decision, which involved a case from the Czech Republic, restricts the terms under which a country outside the EU can be labeled as safe. As a result, the migrants cannot be held in Albania.

The verdict has drawn criticism from Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, which accuses the judiciary of undermining national borders, while Sea Watch, a charity group, hailed the court's reaffirmation of legal principles, countering the government's controversial diversion plan.

(With inputs from agencies.)