Despite a defeat in court, Italy’s Prime Minister is not giving up. Your right-wing government wants to readjust the asylum check outside the EU. But is that still possible?
Despite a severe defeat in court, Italy’s right-wing government is sticking to its plans to accommodate Mediterranean refugees outside the EU for the first time. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made it clear that the two newly opened camps in Albania should remain in operation. At the same time, it denied the judiciary the right to decide from which countries migrants were transported there. Italy is the first country in the European Union to decide on asylum applications outside the EU. The controversial project is being followed closely by all other EU countries.
By order of a court in Rome, twelve migrants from Egypt and Bangladesh, who had only been brought to the camps on Wednesday, were taken back on board an Italian coast guard ship. New destination: the southern Italian port city of Bari. Their fate will now be decided on Italian soil. The court justified its decision by saying that Egypt and Bangladesh were not safe countries of origin. This means that the two warehouses in Albania are now empty again after just two days.
Meloni’s right-wing government announced that it would appeal – if necessary to the highest Italian court. The Prime Minister also called her cabinet to a special meeting on Monday to discuss how to proceed. The leader of the right-wing party Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) said: “I don’t think it’s up to the judiciary to decide which countries are safe, but rather the government’s job.”
Because of its hard line in dealing with refugees, the government is already at odds with the judiciary. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini – formerly Interior Minister and now Transport Minister – is threatened with up to six years in prison. The verdict is due to be announced shortly before Christmas. Right-wing ministers have repeatedly accused the judiciary of allowing itself to be exploited by the left. Salvini even said on Saturday: “If I were to be convicted, it would not be a problem for Matteo Salvini, but a catastrophe for Italy.” According to surveys, Meloni has support for her hard line among the population.
However, Judge Luciana Sangiovanni defended her decision. “We couldn’t make any other decision,” she told the daily newspaper La Stampa. The basis for this was a ruling by the European Court of Justice on October 4th, according to which an EU member can only classify a country of origin as safe if the conditions for this are met throughout the country’s entire territory. If this definition is used, the Albanian camps could only accept migrants from a few countries.
Meloni came into office with a promise to significantly reduce the high number of tens of thousands of people who flee to Italy across the Mediterranean every year. In fact, the numbers are significantly lower for the first time – mainly because of an EU agreement with Tunisia. The agreement with Albania should also contribute to this. In the camps, which only went into operation after months of delay, applications are to be examined in a fast-track process: those who are eligible can continue to Italy. Everyone else has to go back.
The first group of 16 migrants were men who were picked up by the Italian authorities on a boat from Libya. Four of them were allowed to continue to Italy on the first day because they are minors or have health problems. The camps are only for adult men from countries of origin that are classified as safe. Children, women, the sick and victims of torture do not go there. The Italian left has already declared the project a failure. Opposition leader Elly Schlein spoke of an 800 million euro “disgrace”.
