An Italian navy ship has set sail for Albania, carrying a second small group of migrants. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government aims to deter others from making the dangerous sea crossing to Europe by sending boat migrants to guarded camps in Albania.
The first group of migrants came from Egypt and Bangladesh, two of 22 countries that Italy had classified as safe. However, Rome judges questioned this, pointing to a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that a country outside the EU cannot be declared safe unless its entire territory is deemed free of danger.
All those in Albania were brought to Italy, where they were put in unguarded reception centers. Infuriated by the decision, Meloni’s cabinet upgraded the legal status of its list of safe countries, making it an act of law rather than a lesser ministerial decree.
The military did not say where the new group of asylum-seekers came from. Italy has built two reception centers in Albania, the first scheme by a European Union nation to divert migrants to a non-EU country.
Under the deal with Tirana, the total number of migrants present at one time in Albania cannot be more than 3,000. Italy has said only “non-vulnerable” men from safe countries will be sent there, imposing a limit of 36,000 a year.
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