Opposition welcomes ruling in new setback for Meloni.

The Italian government's contested migrant repatriation scheme in Albania hit a new obstacle on Friday after a Rome court rejected the detention of 43 migrants.

The court of appeal did not validate the detention of the migrants held at the facilities in Albania, built by Italy’s right-wing government, and ordered them to be trasferred to Italy.

The court ruling affects 43 migrants from Egypt and Bangladesh who were picked up while crossing the Mediterraean and taken to the Italian-run facilities in Albania while their asylum applications were being processed.

This marks the third time that judges have ordered the transfer of migrants to Italy since the first group was taken to Albania last October.

The offshore facilities, a flagship policy of Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni, have faced severe criticism from human rights groups and opposition parties.

The latest ruling further undermines Meloni’s plan to curb irregular sea arrivals and comes amid rising tensions between the Italian government and the judiciary.

As in the previous rulings by the immigration section of tribunals in Rome and Catania, the court of appeal referred the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), asking it to give a definitive opinion on the matter.

Safe countries

The decision is linked to a ruling by the CJEU that indicates to EU member states that a country cannot be deemed "safe" unless it protects the rights of all its citizens throughout its territory.

Last November, in an attempt to overcome court objections, the Italian government updated its list of "safe" countries to which migrants can be returned under an expedited process.

Friday's decision of the court of appeal concerns only the detention of the migrants in Albania, and not their request for asylum.

That was rejected separately on Thursday, but the 43 migrants have 14 days to file an appeal, according to Italian news reports.

In the meantime, they will be allowed to remain in Italy and are expected to arrive at the southern port of Bari on board an Italian coast guard ship on Saturday evening.

The 43 migrants taken to Albania were originally part of a group of 49 however six of them had already been returned to Italy because they failed to meet the government's requirements for detention at the offshore facility: four were minors while two adults were found to be "vulnerable".

Reaction

Friday's court ruling was slammed by senior members of government parties including Galeazzo Bignami, leader of Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia group in parliament, who said: "We are witnessing an attitude of resistance by a part of the Italian judiciary towards the measures adopted to guarantee security and combat illegal immigration".

Forza Italia senator Maurizio Gasparri also took aim at the judges, claiming that the Italian judiciary "continues to boycott the [government's] security policies to combat illegal immigration".

Last November, following the ruling by the tribunal in Catania, deputy premier Matteo Salvini hit out at "communist judges".

Italy's opposition parties, however, have welcomed the latest setback for the government's controversial scheme.

Resounding failure

"The centres in Albania do not work and will not work, they are a resounding failure" - said Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) - "The wasted public resources are increasing disproportionately: over a billion euro that could have been invested to hire nurses and doctors in the emptied departments of public health".

Riccardo Magi of the liberal left-wing +Europa party, said the judges' decision marks "the tombstone on the immigration policies implemented so far by Giorgia Meloni. All she can do is declare this sadistic experiment a failure and spare us her usual load of victimisation."

Carlo Calenda, leader of the centrist Azione, slammed the migrant facilities as "madness that must be closed immediately", while senator Davide Faraone of the liberal Italia Viva party said the ruling marked a "total Caporetto" for the government - a term used in Italy to denote defeat and humiliation.

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