Italian judges on Monday rejected the detention of a group of migrants in Italian-run centers in Albania, in a new blow to Prime Minister Djordje Meloni's government, referring the case to Europe's highest human rights court.
The refusal to approve requests to house migrants in centers in Albania came despite efforts by the right-wing government to prevent challenges to the controversial scheme by changing Italian law.
The decision means that seven migrants, who originate from Bangladesh and Egypt, will be brought to Italy by boat, just days after arriving in Albania.
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It repeats what happened to the first 12 migrants in the program, also from Egypt and Bangladesh, who were also sent back to Italy by a court order last month shortly after the opening of two Italian-run migrant screening centers in Albania.
An initial attempt last month to settle 12 migrants from Bangladesh and Egypt in Albania was quickly rejected by judges in Rome because of Italy's definition of certain countries from which the migrants originate as "safe".
Italian law allowed certain migrants to be processed in Albania only if they came from "safe" countries.
The judges pointed to a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice, which stipulated that EU members can only designate entire countries as safe, not parts of them.
In response, Italy passed a law stating that all parts of the 19 countries on its "safe" list are safe.
The change has led to requests from courts across Italy to the European Court of Justice for guidance, with judges saying that national and European laws are not harmonized.
The referral to the European Court was made to "clarify various aspects of the doubtful compatibility (of Italian laws) with supranational laws".
A source from the Italian Ministry of the Interior confirmed that Egyptian and Bangladeshi migrants will soon have to be transferred to Italy.
The court's decision drew the ire of Meloni's far-right government, which has sought to ease pressure on Italy over the arrival of migrants seeking a better life in Europe.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, head of the anti-immigration League party, criticized "a political verdict, not against the government, but against Italians and their security."
Opposition parties criticized the waste of state funds on social networks.
Under the five-year agreement, Albania allowed Italy to run two migrant centers on its territory with the capacity to review asylum applications of up to 3.000 migrants a month to decide whether they will be granted asylum or returned to their countries. Those centers, however, are now empty.
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