Italy’s right-wing government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, approved a decree on Monday aimed at bypassing the legal obstacles of a controversial deal with Albania to detain and process migrants’ asylum claims in offshore centers.
The decree, which will automatically become law, allows the Italian government to designate entire countries as “safe” for the return of migrants.
The move comes after a Rome court ruled Friday that the first group of migrants sent to Albania as part of the deal could not be detained offshore because their countries of origin — Bangladesh and Egypt— could not be considered safe. According to Italy’s own rules for the scheme, only adult men who are not vulnerable and who are from designated safe countries can be sent to the centers.
