An Italian court has ruled that seven migrants held at an offshore asylum processing center in Albania must be brought to Italy, in another setback for Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni's new migration plan.
The men, originally from Egypt and Bangladesh, were picked up by an Italian Navy ship last week in the Mediterranean and taken to a facility in Albania to process their asylum claims.
Five of their applications have been rejected, but Italian judges have also postponed their deportation.
Two shelter processing centers in Albania have been operating since last month but have been empty most of the time.
The first group of men taken to the centers in October, also of Egyptian and Bangladeshi origin, were eventually allowed to cross to Italy after a court ruled that neither Egypt nor Bangladesh were considered safe – which necessitated processing in the camps on the coast. .
Meloni's right-wing government has since issued a decree establishing a new list of 19 supposedly safe countries of origin, including Egypt and Bangladesh, but an Italian court has asked the European Court of Justice to review the decision.
Under EU law, neither Bangladesh nor Egypt count as safe countries of origin.
Italy is the first EU country to process asylum applications in camps outside the European Union. The plan is being watched closely by other European governments, many of which are considering following a similar path.
The men will be flown to Italy on Tuesday.
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