Editorial & Advertiser disclosure

Global Banking and Finance Review is an online platform offering news, analysis, and opinion on the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the banking and finance industry worldwide. The platform covers a diverse range of topics, including banking, insurance, investment, wealth management, fintech, and regulatory issues. The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.

Headlines

Posted By Global Banking and Finance Review

Posted on January 31, 2025

Italy court again blocks migrant detentions in Albania, in blow to Meloni

By Angelo Amante and Paolo Chiriatti

ROME (Reuters) - A Rome court on Friday ordered a group of migrants detained in camps built in Albania to be transferred to Italy, sources said, dealing a fresh blow to a plan by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to curb irregular sea arrivals.

The decision involved 43 migrants from Egypt and Bangladesh who had been brought to Albania this week after being picked up in the Mediterranean, in the latest attempt to enforce a policy whose validity had already been questioned by the judiciary.

Italy's right-wing government built the two facilities in the Balkan country aiming to hold migrants there while processing their asylum requests.

The latest ruling marks the third time judges have ordered that migrants be transferred to Italy since a first group was taken to Albania in October last year.

Italy's opposition parties welcomed the setback for Meloni.

"As any person with common sense would have imagined, yet another deportation of migrants to Albania has come to nothing," said Nicola Fratoianni, a lawmaker from the Green-Left Alliance party.

The Italian interior ministry declined to comment.

Two sources close to the matter told Reuters the judges had decided to refer the matter to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In the meantime the migrants will be moved to Italy, with the transfer probably taking place on Saturday, one of the sources said.

The Albanian facilities had remained empty since November, when judges last ordered those detained there to be transferred to Italy, citing doubts over the scheme's compliance with a recent ECJ ruling.

That ruling, which was not specifically related to Italy, said with regard to migrants that no nation of origin could be considered safe if even just a part of its territory was deemed dangerous.

Italian judges said the ruling threw into question the government's plan to take to Albania migrants from a list of "safe" countries, in the hope of swiftly repatriating them when their asylum requests were, in all likelihood, rejected.

The issue has sparked a row between Meloni's coalition and the judiciary, with senior figures in the government accusing the courts of trying to undermine the plan for political reasons.

The ECJ is set to review Italy's scheme in the next few weeks to clarify whether it is in compliance with EU law.

(writing by Angelo Amante, editing by Gavin Jones)

Recommended for you

  • Trump postpones call with Panama's president as canal tensions simmer

  • Trump says he may meet Ukraine's Zelenskiy next week

  • US interest boosts Greenland's independence bid in talks with Denmark, party says