EU court rules against Italy on Albania migrant camps scheme
FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows a migrant detention centre in Gjader, Albania, July 31, 2025. The facility was set up under an Italian government plan to process migrants rescued at sea. REUTERS/Florion Goga/File Photo
ROME/BRUSSELS - Europe's top court on Friday questioned the legitimacy of the "safe countries" list Italy uses to send migrants to Albania and fast-track their asylum claims, in a fresh blow to a key plank of the government's migration policy.
Conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office, in a statement, called the court ruling "surprising" and said it "weakens policies to combat mass illegal immigration and defend national borders".
Dario Belluccio, a lawyer who represented one of the Bangladeshi asylum-seekers in the specific case brought before the European Court of Justice, said the Albanian migrant camps scheme had effectively been killed off.
"It will not be possible to continue with what the Italian government had envisioned before this decision ... Technically, it seems to me that the government's approach has been completely dismantled," he told Reuters.
Meloni had presented the offshoring of asylum-seekers to camps built in Albania as a cornerstone of her tough approach to immigration, and other European countries had looked to the idea as a possible model.
However, the scheme stumbled on legal opposition almost as soon as it was launched last year, with Italian courts ordering the return to Italy of migrants picked up at sea and taken to Albania, citing issues with European Union law.
DIFFICULT TO GET 'SAFE COUNTRY' INFORMATION
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Tech Reporting suspected advanced cyber attacks will provide a defence framework: Shanmugam
Singapore Tanjong Katong sinkhole: Road will progressively open to motorists from Aug 2 noon
World Trump modifies reciprocal tariffs ahead of deadline; rate on Singapore remains at 10%
Business Singapore's US tariff rate stays at 10%, but the Republic is not out of the woods yet
Singapore Thundery showers expected on most days in first half of August
Singapore Synapxe chief executive, MND deputy secretary to become new perm secs from Sept 1
Singapore 5 women face capital charges after they were allegedly found with nearly 27kg of cocaine in S'pore
Business Sumo Salad had valid insurance coverage for work injury claims: MOM
In a long-awaited judgment, the Luxembourg-based ECJ said Italy is authorised to fast-track asylum rejections for nationals coming from countries on a "safe" list - a principle at the heart of the Albania scheme.
It also said Italy is free to decide which countries are "safe", but also warned that such a designation should meet strict legal standards and allow applicants and courts to access and challenge the supporting evidence.
In its statement, the ECJ said a Rome court had turned to EU judges citing the impossibility of accessing such information and thus preventing it from "challenging and reviewing the lawfulness of such a presumption of safety".
The ECJ also said that a country might not be classified "safe" if it does not offer adequate protection to its entire population, effectively agreeing with Italian judges that had raised this issue last year.
MELONI WARNS OF JUDICIAL OVERREACH
Meloni's office complained that the EU judgment effectively allows national judges to dictate policy on migration, "further reduc(ing) the already limited" capacity of parliament and government to take decisions on the matter.
"This is a development that should concern everybody," it said.
The case raised before the ECJ involved two Bangladeshi nationals who were rescued at sea by Italian authorities and taken to Albania, where their asylum claims were rejected based on Italy's classification of Bangladesh as a "safe" country.
The detention facilities Italy set up in Albania have been empty for months, due to judicial obstacles. Last week, a report found that their construction cost was seven times more than that of an equivalent centre in Italy.
Though the Albanian scheme is stuck in legal limbo, Italy's overall effort to curb undocumented migration by sea has been more successful. There have been 36,557 such migrant arrivals in the year to date, slightly up from the same period of 2024, but far below the 89,165 recorded over the same time span in 2023. REUTERS
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Pope Leo tells hundreds of thousands of young Catholics to build a better world
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Pope Leo XIV attends a vigil for the Jubilee of Youth in Tor Vergata, in Rome, Italy, August 2, 2025. REUTERS/Yara Nardi ROME - Hundreds of thousands of young people filled a vast field on the outskirts of Rome on Saturday to see Pope Leo, in the largest event yet of the new Catholic pontiff's tenure, as part of a special weekend aimed at energizing Catholic youth. Young people from more than 146 countries, some wearing colourful bandanas to ward off the hot summer sun, were pressed against fences in the Tor Vergata field as Leo toured the crowd in his white popemobile in late afternoon. The pope, smiling broadly, waved, offered blessings and occasionally caught small stuffed animals and national flags thrown by the youth as he passed by. "Dear young people ... my prayer for you is that you may persevere in faith, with joy and courage," Leo said in remarks later to the crowd. "Seek justice in order to build a more humane world," he said. "Serve the poor, and so bear witness to the good that we would always like to receive from our neighbours." Many of the youth attending the event with Leo spent all day waiting in the field in heat approaching 30 degrees Celsius (86°F) to see the pope. Organizers were using water cannons to help cool down people in the crowd. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore $3b money laundering case: MinLaw names 6 law firms taken to task over involvement in property deals Singapore Police reopen access to all areas in Marina Bay after crowd congestion eases at NDP Preview area Singapore Opening of Woodlands Health has eased load on KTPH, sets standard for future hospitals: Ong Ye Kung Asia KTM plans new passenger rail service in Johor Bahru to manage higher footfall expected from RTS Singapore HSA investigating teen allegedly vaping on MRT train Asia 4 workers dead after falling into manhole in Japan Singapore New vehicular bridge connecting Punggol Central and Seletar Link to open on Aug 3 Singapore New S'pore jobs portal launched for North West District residents looking for work near home "For me, it is an incredible emotion because I had never been to an event like this before," said Maya Remorini, from Italy's Tuscany region. She said her group had arrived around 5 a.m. that morning. Many of the youth are expected to sleep in the field overnight, waiting for a second chance to see Leo on Sunday morning, when the pope is due to celebrate a Catholic mass. The weekend events are tied to the ongoing Catholic Holy Year, which the Vatican says has attracted some 17 million pilgrims to Rome since it started at the end of 2024. Leo, the first U.S.-born pope, was elected on May 8 by the world's cardinals to replace the late Pope Francis. REUTERS
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Clashes and arrests at UK immigration protests in London, Manchester
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Police officers clashing with counter protesters in London in an attempt to move them off the street, as an anti-immigration march takes place outside the Barbican Thistle hotel on Aug 2. MANCHESTER, United Kingdom - Further scuffles broke out at anti-immigration protests in the UK on Aug 2, with police making several arrests. Demonstrators calling for mass 're-migration' gathered in central Manchester, north-west England, for a march organised by the far-right 'Britain First' group, which was confronted by anti-racism groups. Meanwhile in central London, rival demonstrators converged outside a hotel housing asylum seekers, following similar recent events that have occasionally turned violent. In Manchester, the two groups clashed briefly at the start of the protest before police split them up, according to an AFP journalist at the scene. 'Send them back, don't let them in – just stop them coming in, we've got hotels full of immigrants and we've got our own homeless people in the streets begging for food but nowhere to live,' said protester Brendan O'Reilly, 66. Counter-protester Judy, a 60-year-old retired nurse, told AFP she was there 'because I don't want to see people full of hate on the streets of Manchester.' 'Do they want them all to go back or is it just people with brown skin? I suspect it's just people with brown skin that they want to re-migrate,' she added. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore $3b money laundering case: MinLaw names 6 law firms taken to task over involvement in property deals Singapore Police reopen access to all areas in Marina Bay after crowd congestion eases at NDP Preview area Singapore Opening of Woodlands Health has eased load on KTPH, sets standard for future hospitals: Ong Ye Kung Asia KTM plans new passenger rail service in Johor Bahru to manage higher footfall expected from RTS Singapore HSA investigating teen allegedly vaping on MRT train Asia 4 workers dead after falling into manhole in Japan Singapore New vehicular bridge connecting Punggol Central and Seletar Link to open on Aug 3 Singapore New S'pore jobs portal launched for North West District residents looking for work near home In London, similar clashes erupted outside a hotel in the Barbican neighbourhood before police intervened. Metropolitan Police wrote on X that officers had cleared a junction where counter-protesters had assembled in breach of the conditions in place. 'There have been nine arrests so far, with seven for breaching Public Order Act conditions,' added the force. There have been several flashpoints around the UK in recent weeks, most notably in the north-east London neighbourhood of Epping. AFP
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
Myanmar junta air strike on ruby mine hub kills 13
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox A new member of the People's Defence Force undergoing basic military training at a secret jungle camp in Mon State, Myanmar, on July 9. YANGON - A Myanmar junta air strike on a rebel-occupied ruby mining hub killed 13 people on Aug 2, according to a resident and a spokesperson for an armed opposition group. Civil war has consumed Myanmar since the military seized power in a 2021 coup, sparking resistance from pro-democracy guerillas who found common cause with long-active ethnic armed groups. Their scattered forces initially struggled to make headway, but a combined offensive starting in late 2023 seized swathes of territory, including the town of Mogok – the centre of the ruby trade. Myanmar is rich in precious stones and rare earth elements coveted by all factions and sold off, mostly to neighbouring China, to boost war chests. A junta spokesperson could not be reached for comment. However, a local who declined to be named for security reasons said the strike took place around 8.15am, killing seven instantly, with six dying later of their wounds. He said among the dead were a Buddhist monk collecting alms and a father and son who were riding the same motorbike. 'A car passing through the area was hit, too,' he added. 'Seven people were wounded, including the driver.' A spokeswoman for the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, which has occupied Mogok since the summer of 2024, matched that death toll, but gave a figure of 14 wounded. 'It was in the morning time when the airstrike hit a public area,' said spokeswoman Lway Yay Oo. 'There were a lot of people walking in the street, therefore a lot of people were killed.' The military was initially backfooted by the rebels' combined offensive, but has enacted conscription to boost its ranks. Its troops recently retook several key settlements in central Myanmar, including the gold mining hub of Thabeikkyin, which it seized in late July after a year-long battle. The junta on July 31 ended the state of emergency it had declared after toppling the government of Aung San Suu Kyi more than four years ago, and has touted elections in December as an off-ramp for the conflict. However, with Suu Kyi still jailed, opposition groups, including ousted lawmakers, are boycotting the poll. A UN expert in June described the exercise as a 'fraud' designed to legitimise the junta's continued rule. AFP
