SHËNGJIN: Twelve men from Bangladesh and Egypt were sent back to Italy on Saturday after Albanian judges ruled against their detention, dealing a blow to a controversial deal between Rome and Tirana aimed at housing migrants in Albania until their asylum cases could be processed in Italy.
The group of 16 migrants had initially arrived at the Albanian port of Shëngjin on Wednesday, marking the first group sent under the five-year agreement signed in November 2023 by Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama. However, four of the men were identified as “vulnerable” and were returned to Italy immediately.
The remaining 12 migrants, escorted by police from a temporary reception center, boarded an Italian coast guard vessel bound for Brindisi, Italy, on Saturday, according to Albanian port officials.
The deal, estimated to cost Italy €160 million ($175 million) annually, was intended to house male asylum seekers intercepted by Italian navy or coast guard vessels in Albania while Italian judges remotely handled their cases.
The agreement allows for fast-track repatriation of individuals from “safe” countries, but on Friday, Italian judges ruled that the men did not meet the criteria for detention in Albania, citing a European Court of Justice ruling.
Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the government would appeal the court’s decision, while Prime Minister Meloni took to X (formerly Twitter), saying, “Italians have asked me to stop illegal immigration, and I will do everything possible to keep my word.”
Critics of the deal, including Democratic Party MEP Irene Tinagli, have labeled the operation as ineffective. “To think one can manage the influx of migrants by sending a few of them to Albania is ridiculous and useless,” she said.
So far this year, over 55,000 people have arrived in Italy via the Mediterranean, with the government expanding its list of “safe” countries for faster deportations.
However, human rights groups and recent legal rulings question the legitimacy of the criteria for such designations and raise concerns about whether Albania can provide adequate protection for asylum seekers in its centers.
