Migrants, 43 migrants returned from Albania
Migrants transferred from Albania to Bari. They are all men, Bangladeshis and Egyptians, and they arrived in the port following the decision of the Court of Appeal of Rome.
The third group of irregular immigrants, whom Italy rescued in the Mediterranean and transported to immigration centres as part of the agreement with Albania, was brought to the city of Bari as part of the decision of the Court of Appeal of Rome to get them to Italy. It was the third failed attempt by Giorgia Meloni’s government to try migrants in the non-EU country.
It was reported in the press that 43 irregular immigrants, stated to be from Egypt and Bangladesh, were transferred to the place in Bari where the immigrants’ asylum requests were examined.
The press reported that the coalition government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was working to overcome obstacles in its immigration policy. The left opposition, on the other hand, argued that public resources were wasted and demanded the resignation of Meloni, whom they criticized harshly.
The “Cassiopea” patrol ship belonging to the Italian navy had rescued 49 irregular immigrants off the coast of Lampedusa Island, Italy’s closest land to Africa, on January 26 and taken them to immigrant centres in Albania on January 28. 4 of the 49 immigrants moved to Italy on January 29, because they were underage and two because of health conditions, and 43 people remained in the centres. In the first evaluation of the asylum requests of 43 people on January 30, these requests were rejected, and the immigrants objected to this. The 43 immigrants were the third group after the first two groups were taken to Albania in October and November 2024. The first two groups of immigrants who moved to Albania were later brought back to Italy.
Italian authorities, who transported two more groups of immigrants to centres in Albania in October and November 2024, had to bring these immigrants back to Italy due to the differently reasoned decisions of the Rome Court. While the Rome Court ruled in October 2024 that the first group of immigrants could not be kept in centres in Albania, the countries of origin of these immigrants, who are Egyptian and Bangladeshi, to whom they should be sent back if their asylum requests are rejected, the European Court of Justice ruled on October 4 that “Egypt and Bangladesh cannot be considered completely safe.” He justified his decision that “. The Rome Court decided that the second group of immigrants who moved to centres in Albania in November 2024 should also be pushed back to Italy and that the European Court of Justice would directly handle this issue.
The European Court of Justice is expected to evaluate Italy’s plan on February 25 and clarify whether it complies with European Union (EU) laws.
Italy’s immigrant centres in Albania
The agreement signed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in Rome on November 6, 2023, stipulates that adult and healthy male irregular immigrants rescued by Italian security forces in the Mediterranean will be transferred to Albania and stay there while their asylum requests are examined.
The agreement in question is the first that regulates an EU country’s sending of irregular immigrants to the territory of another country that is not a member of the Union.
Within the agreement framework, Italy established the first reception centre in Shingin Port, northwest of Albania. The facility and repatriation centre for subsequent procedures were established in the Gjader region.
These centres in Albania, to which up to 36 thousand irregular immigrants are anticipated to be transferred annually, were put into operation in October 2024.
Two different immigrant groups were moved to these centres in Albania on October 16, 2024, and finally on November 8, 2024, but the immigrants in both groups were taken back to Italy due to the differently reasoned decisions of the Rome Court.
Immigrant centres in Albania, which the Meloni government presents as a “deterrent factor” against irregular migration, are criticized by the opposition and non-governmental organizations.
Share: