Italy has resumed the transfer of illegal immigrants intercepted in the Mediterranean to asylum seeker centres in Albania, sending 49 people after more than two months of delays.
According to port officials on on January 26, the navy vessel Cassiopea, which was carrying the immigrants, is expected to reach the Albanian port of Shengjin on January 28.
The Interior Ministry confirmed that, besides those transferred, another 53 people “spontaneously presented their passports”.
In these cases, if their nationality was confirmed, they would likely be repatriated through a fast-track procedure.
The latest transfer was part of an agreement signed in November 2023 between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart Edi Rama to open two processing centres managed by Italy.
The facilities, which began operations in October 2024 and can house 3,000 people per month, have been controversial due to court rulings that have hindered their operation.
Italian judges rejected the detention of the first groups transferred to Albania, citing a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
According to this ruling, asylum seekers cannot undergo fast-track repatriation procedures if their country of origin was deemed unsafe.
This led to the immigrants’ return to Italy and further transfers were suspended while the ECJ reviewed the situation.
Meloni responded by reducing the list of countries considered safe from 22 to 19, arguing that all regions within these nations met the safety criteria.
Despite that, the judges’ decision has allowed lower courts to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether a country was safe for repatriation, complicating the broader implementation of the policy.
The Italian Government has allocated €650 million to fund the centres in Albania over five years, although criticism has persisted.
Despite the legal challenges, Meloni has emphasised that the initiative received strong backing from other European leaders, underscoring what she said was her commitment to an immigration approach that extended beyond EU borders.
Italy has seen violent unrest break out, largely attributed to immigrant communities over the death of 19-year-old Italian-Egyptian Rami El Gamal during a police pursuit in November. https://t.co/zdCn4srykY
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 14, 2025
