Italy hopes to save Albania migrant plan

Italy's government has made a fresh legislative effort to get its migration pact with Albania into operation after a court ruling scuppered the move.

In November, the two countries agreed a five-year deal that would see Italian-built and funded detention camps put up in Albania, where asylum-seekers would be sent while their applications were processed.

But no sooner had the first handful of migrants been sent there last week than they were returned to Italy, as a court ruled that the countries of origin to which they might potentially be sent back should their applications fail — specifically Egypt and Bangladesh — could not be considered safe.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hit out at the decision of the court, calling it "prejudiced" and saying it was the responsibility of her government to judge whether or not a country was safe, with Justice Minister Carlo Nordio saying "the definition of a safe country cannot be up to the judiciary".

Meloni added, "Italians have asked me to stop illegal immigration and I will do everything possible to keep my word and stop human trafficking."

On Monday, Italy's council of ministers met to approve a new decree that allows for a list of safe countries to be updated every six months, and also permits a court of appeal to look again at rulings that send asylum-seekers back to Italy. "We will continue to work tirelessly to defend our borders," Meloni said.

Because of its geographical prominence in the Mediterranean Sea, Italy's coastal waters and islands are a hot spot for asylum-seekers crossing from North Africa and the Middle East, as an entry point into the European Union.

Italy's attempt to deal with the challenge of irregular migration by outsourcing holding facilities to another country is an approach being closely watched by leaders of other countries as a possible solution to the issue.

Albania applied to join the EU in 2009 and has been an official candidate since June 2014, but the country's Prime Minister Edi Rama says the deal with Italy has nothing to do with seeking Rome's support for its candidacy.

Even European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the arrangement an "example of out-of-the-box thinking", and after meeting him in September, Meloni said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had shown "great interest" in the Albania deal.