Italy restarts bid to deport migrants to Albania

49 people were transported to an Albanian port by an Italian Navy ship as Rome resumed its contentious immigration detention.

The ship docked in Shengjin on Tuesday morning, according to Italian authorities, and the group was let off. After Italian judges ruled against a pair of shipments late last year and mandated that those relocating to be returned, Rome made its third attempt to process asylum claims in Albania.

In November 2023, the right-wing Italian government reached a contentious transfer agreement with Albania and constructed two reception centers. The European Union made the first agreement to redirect migrants to a non-EU nation for claim processing.

A port reception center is scheduled to check in the 49 guests. They will then be taken to the Gjader accommodation centre, about 22 kilometres (14 miles) to the east.

Following failures in October and November, previous attempts to move the processing of migrants to Albania failed. The migrant’s countries of origin were not safe enough for them to face the possibility of being sent back by the centers, so Italian judges ruled against the detention of two small groups at the Albanian centers.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ), which established earlier that asylum seekers could not go through a quick-track procedure that might result in repatriation if their home countries are not deemed to be entirely secure, has been given the case.

In the upcoming weeks, the ECJ will evaluate Italy’s plan to determine whether it complies with EU law.

“Current experiment”

Up to 3, 000 people who are intercepted by the Italian coastguard in international waters each month are sheltered in Albania and subject to possible asylum in Italy or repatriation under the terms of the Rome-Tirana agreement.

Those who are granted asylum in Italy have been deported directly from Albania, whereas those whose applications are rejected face deportation.

The deal was struck as many EU states seek to adopt harsher immigration stances&nbsp, amid pressure from the&nbsp, far right.

Rights organizations have questioned whether the agreement is in line with international law. Amnesty International has called the centres a “cruel experiment]that] is a stain on the Italian government”.