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The Italian government has suffered another legal defeat over its efforts to process asylum applications by migrants arriving via the Mediterranean Sea in an offshore facility in Albania.<\/p>\n
An appeals court in Rome ruled that 43 men taken to two facilities in Albania must be released and brought back to Italy, the Italian news agency ANSA reported on Friday.<\/p>\n
The migrants – from Bangladesh, Egypt, Gambia and the Ivory Coast – were picked up by an Italian navy ship this week and taken to Albania, where far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s administration has set up camps to house migrants while their applications are processed.<\/p>\n
Six of the men were allowed to enter Italy, while the others saw their applications rejected.<\/p>\n
Previous attempts to detain migrants in Albania failed in October and November after Italian courts ruled the migrants could not be sent back to safe countries of origin.<\/p>\n
Italy is the first country in the European Union to set up facilities outside the bloc’s borders to process applications.<\/p>\n
The future of the “Albania model” is being closely monitored by other governments.<\/p>\n
The European Court of Justice intends to issue a landmark judgement on the actions of the Italian authorities in February.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n