Italy plans to process migrants in Albania applied by EU court

The decision of the best Court of the EU has filed further on Italy’s attempts to set up a fast tracking system in Albania to process asylum applications in an offshore.

The European Court (ECJ) stated that the way the Italian government is currently determined whether a country is “safe” to return someone whose application has been rejected is contrary to the EU law.

This “safe side” concept is central to the deal that Prime Minister Georgia Meloni struck with Albania in 2023 to send migrants captured to the sea directly there for accelerated processing.

Each of the “safe country” to whom asylum was denied should have been deported within a week.

But the EU has ruled that a nation can only be included in the government list if the entire population there is safe, which means that Italy will have to review its procedure.

He currently identifies Egypt and Bangladesh, for example as safe, while assuming that certain groups there require protection.

The decision brought an angry reaction from the government in Rome, which stated that the European Court is going beyond its role, adding that the decision will weaken the parties’ ability to “defend national borders”.

The European Court of Justice also stated that the government must publish any evidence and sources it uses to achieve its conclusions about safe countries so that asylum seekers can challenge the decision in their cases.

“Today, the court clarifies that a country cannot be defined as safe unless it offers effective, generalized protection for all and anywhere, and unless that claim cannot be checked and contested independently,” explained Actionaid Italy.

“The so -called Albania model collapses in its legal core,” she argued.

The fate of the Italian project in Albania is closely monitored by other governments, including the UK, who want to cope with an offshore asylum applications as they try to reduce the number of irregular migrants arriving in their countries.

Thought as a central element of the difficult approach of melons to immigration, the deal in Albania has hit legal obstacles from the beginning. The handful of migrants who were sent there are all eventually returned to Italy after the attorneys intervention.

Many times above the budget, the centers built have not yet been used as intended.

In its decision, the European Court of Justice does not object to a quick migrant procedure from safe countries, but it became clear that the implementation of this policy should change.

“This is fundamental: the concept of” safe country of origin “can no longer be used to make transfers to Albania until Italian law is changed to be in accordance with EU law,” Amnesty International Adriana Tidona researcher told the BBC.

“This makes a significant suspension of Italy’s plans in Albania.”

Amnesty, like others, believes that Albania deals with a violation of human rights more fundamental. “This is not related to the safe sides of origin, but to the fact that it is based on an automatic detention system,” said Adriana Tidona. “It’s illegal.”

It is not clear what impact today’s solution can have on the new EU migration pact, which comes into force next year and introduces a common list of safe countries to return – including Egypt and Bangladesh.

But the decision makes it clear that the definition of safe countries is not ultimately hiding in politicians.

“The court says that the judge has the power to evaluate safe countries,” explains Daniele Gallo, Professor of EU Law at Roman University of Louis. “Whatever the government says, every judge in Italy now has an obligation to repeal Italian legislation and to apply the EU law.”