“Politicized magistrates”, thunders Fratelli d’Italia
The decision of the judges of the migration affairs section of the Rome court therefore constitutes a scathing setback for the Italian executive which has made the fight against irregular immigration one of its main political battlehorses.
Furious, his Fratelli d’Italia party deemed it “absurd” on X, castigating “politicized magistrates”. “It is impossible to repatriate those who enter illegally, it is forbidden to repatriate illegal immigrants. They would like to abolish Italy’s borders, we will not allow it,” added FDI. The League, the anti-immigration party of vice-head of government Matteo Salvini, criticized an “unacceptable and serious” decision and attacked “pro-immigrant” magistrates, inviting them to “stand for election”.
The five-year agreement between Rome and Tirana covers adult men intercepted by the Italian Navy or Coast Guard in their search and rescue zone in international waters. The procedure provides for a first check on a military ship, before a transfer to a center in northern Albania, at the port of Shengjin, for identification, then to a second center, on a former military base in Gjader.
For the European Court of Justice, a country is safe or not
The first sixteen migrants arrived in Albania on Wednesday but four of them were immediately returned to Italy, two claiming to be minors and two others in need of medical treatment. The Italian court having invalidated the detention of the 12 other asylum seekers, originating from Bangladesh and Egypt, invoked a recent judgment of the European Court of Justice on the countries of origin considered “safe” by the host countries.
Rome recently expanded the list of “safe” countries of origin, defined as states where there is no persecution, torture or threat of indiscriminate violence, to 22 countries. But this list includes countries where some regions are not deemed “safe.” However, the European Court of Justice considers that EU member states can only designate entire countries as safe, and not parts of countries. The 12 migrants must therefore be transferred to Italy, but Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi announced on Friday that the government would appeal.
“You must ask for forgiveness”, supports the left
The left opposition in Italy, strong against the externalization of migration policy, welcomed the decision of the Roman judges. “We said it, not because we have the crystal ball but because we read the laws,” reacted Elly Schlein, the boss of the main opposition party, the Democratic Party (PD, center- LEFT).
“Now I appeal to the government and to Giorgia Meloni: stop and retrace your steps. You have to dismantle everything and ask the Italians for forgiveness,” she said. “The media spectacle organized by the Meloni government clashes with national and international law,” the NGO Sea-Watch Italy, which rescues migrants in the Mediterranean, also welcomed on X.
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