Italian Court Rules Against Detention of Migrants in Albania: A Landmark Decision
On Friday, the Court of Appeal in Rome ruled against the detention of 43 migrants currently held at the asylum seeker center established by the Italian government in Gjader, Albania. This ruling means that these individuals will be returned to Italy on Saturday to await the conclusion of their asylum applications. This decision follows two previous rulings regarding migrant groups transported to Albania in October and November, where judges similarly decided against validating their detention.
It's important to note that the Court's ruling only pertains to the migrants' detention in Albania and does not affect their asylum requests, which were rejected separately on Thursday. However, these 43 migrants still have a 14-day period in which they can appeal this rejection, during which they are allowed to remain in Italy.
Although the centers are located in Albania, the Italian authorities are responsible for all procedures related to administrative detention and the evaluations of international protection requests. Every migrant arriving in Albania receives a detention decree issued by the police headquarters in Rome, which must then be validated by judges. The Court of Appeal emphasized that the countries from which these migrants originated—like Bangladesh and Egypt—cannot be considered safe, aligning with the stipulations of the government's rules which clearly state that asylum seekers cannot be detained in Albania under such conditions.
This ruling is intimately linked to a directive by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which outlines the criteria for determining if a country is deemed safe for asylum seekers. The ruling asserts that safety must be consistent across a country's entire territory and for all individuals residing there. Moreover, it mandates that the determination of a country's safety must be reviewed judicially during each asylum case.
According to the judges, many nations classified as safe by the Italian government do not meet the required European standards. As European law supersedes Italian law, this foundational principle led the Court of Appeal to reject the validation of detention.
This precedent has stirred significant dissent within the government, which has accused the judiciary of prioritizing political considerations over legal ones. Initially, decisions regarding detention were handled by first-instance courts; however, in a strategic shift, the government reallocated this responsibility to the Courts of Appeal. This maneuver seemingly aimed to preclude scrutiny from judges specialized in immigration law, who previously had dismissed requests for detention in Albania.
The recent transport of migrants to Albania by the Italian Navy's Cassiopea involved 49 individuals; however, six were sent back to Italy upon discovery that they did not meet the government's criteria for detention in Albania. During the identification and medical examinations conducted at a hotspot in Shengjin, four migrants were identified as minors, and two adults were classified as vulnerable. As per regulations, only adult males who are not considered vulnerable and who originate from so-called safe countries can be detained in these centers while awaiting their asylum outcomes.
Overall, the decision of the Court of Appeal has major implications for Italy’s handling of migrant detentions and reflects ongoing tensions between the legal interpretation of safety for asylum seekers and the government's immigration policies.
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