Italian government reacts furiously to court ruling.

Italy must pay compensation to migrants who were not permitted to disembark from a coast guard ship in August 2018, the country's top court ruled on Friday, sparking a furious reaction from the right-wing government.

The 177 migrants who were held aboard the Diciotti ship for 10 days were deprived of their personal freedom, the cassation court ruled, and accordingly are entitled to damages from the Italian state.

Slamming the decision as “highly questionable” and “very frustrating", Meloni wrote on X that the compensation - whose amount has yet to be decided by the court - would end up being paid by Italian taxpayers.

Le Sezioni Unite della Corte di Cassazione hanno condannato il governo a risarcire un gruppo di immigrati illegali trasportati dalla nave Diciotti perché il governo di allora, con Ministro dell’Interno Matteo Salvini, non li fece sbarcare immediatamente in Italia.

Lo fanno…— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) March 7, 2025

On 16 August 2018, the Diciotti rescued 190 migrants, 13 of whom were allowed to disembark on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa due to health problems.

The remaining 177 migrants remained stranded aboard the ship for 10 days after Italy's then interior minister Matteo Salvini declared all Italian ports closed.

Salvini, now deputy premier, branded the cassation court's ruling on Friday a “disgrace" and suggested that the judges should pay the compensation and welcome migrants into their homes.

La Cassazione ha sentenziato che il Governo deve rimborsare i clandestini trattenuti sulla nave Diciotti quando ero ministro dell’Interno.
Se di fronte al loro splendido palazzo allestissero un campo rom o un centro profughi, secondo voi cambierebbero idea? pic.twitter.com/StTttMUq8E— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) March 7, 2025

Last December a Sicilian court acquitted Salvini of preventing the landing of 147 migrants on Lampedusa in 2018, for which he had risked six years in jail on charges of abduction and refusal to perform official duties over his role.

In recent months the Italian government's contested offshore asylum processing scheme in Albania has hit several legal obstacles after courts in Italy rejected the detention of migrants.

Photo: Giorgia Meloni. Credit: Stefano Costantino TTL / Shutterstock.com.