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BIRN: After the court's decision, the Rama-Meloni agreement for immigrants is described as a "failure"
2024-11-13 17:03:12 / POLITIKË
After Italian judges thwarted a second attempt to send migrants for processing to Albania, critics say the deal between the two countries is in deep trouble.
The latest blow to the deal between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, to send migrants caught at sea to process their asylum claims in Albania has been welcomed by her critics.
Seven migrants from Egypt and Bangladesh were sent back to Italy on Tuesday, not long after being sent back at high cost to Albania - the second return in recent weeks prompted by a ruling by a court in Rome.
Rigels Xhemollari, from the Tirana-based NGO Qëndresa Gytare, told BIRN that the agreement has failed.
"With the latest decision of the court of Rome, which expands even more the criteria of a 'safe' country for immigrants, the Gjadri camp in Albania will be a failure of the agreement", said Xhemollari.
So, in addition to the failure of the investment, the space will remain as a lesson for this behavior of leaders who do not consider public and institutional consultation as one of the main steps of a democratic government", he added.
Gentjan Sejrani, an Albanian lawyer and activist who has opposed the deal because of potential human rights violations, told BIRN that, after two court rulings, he also thinks the agreement is effectively obsolete.
"Referring to the two decisions of the Italian court, we can say that the Rama-Meloni agreement has failed. The financial costs of only two trips show that the Italian state practically has no reason to continue bringing immigrants to our country", said Sejrani.
"Once again, it must be understood that the rights of immigrants are human rights and cannot be violated in any way and by any government," he added.
In their first ruling on October 18, judges in Rome declared inadmissible the detention in Albania of 12 migrants from Bangladesh and Egypt who were caught by Italy at sea.
The court ruled that their countries of origin could not be considered safe under European law and therefore they have the right to have their asylum claims examined in Italy.
The decision was based on a ruling by the European Court of Justice, which concluded that a country of origin cannot be considered "safe" if parts of it are not.
In Monday's latest ruling, the decision to approve the bans was suspended and sent for evaluation to the European Court of Justice, which will have to deal with questions raised by Italian judges.
The judges requested an expedited procedure due to the urgency of the case. If the European Court accepts this, the decision will be made in a few months. Otherwise, "it could take up to three years," Anna Brambilla, a lawyer and member of the Italian Association for Legal Studies on Immigration, told BIRN.
Between the two rulings, Meloni's government tried to oblige the judiciary by passing a decree updating the list of countries Italy considers "safe". The government hoped to use a legal mechanism to circumvent European regulations on the matter.
A new attempt is possible
Experts told BIRN that the Italian government is unlikely to wait for the European Court of Justice before making further efforts to implement the migrant deal.
"In my opinion, the operations will be repeated soon. The government can act again by appointing another judge with jurisdiction over the validity of the ban," Brambilla predicted.
"Or they could also change the basis for detaining at the border, introducing a new category of individuals who can be detained, other than those coming from a 'safe country of origin,'" she added.
Whatever happens next with the Albanian migrant processing center, the decision of the European Court of Justice could shape European legislation, experts believe.
The next two years will see the implementation of the new EU Pact on Asylum and Migration, and the definition of "safe third country" is a central part of it.
Currently, so-called "accelerated procedures" can only be used with citizens of "safe" countries who enter the EU irregularly. They may be held in border facilities such as those in Albania, until a decision is made on their asylum claim.
Brambilla said one of the questions raised by Italian judges when they referred the case to the European Court of Justice concerned whether a judge could "use sources of information" to decide whether a country is safe enough to return them. immigrants back there, rather than relying on a government definition of what is safe.
A decision in either direction will have important implications for the future of efforts to tackle migration in Europe, she predicted./BIRN
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