Italian PM Meloni To Appeal Decision On Return Of Migrants Sent To Albania
Migrants are sent to Albania from Italy, Oct. 16, 2024. X/ @ln24_intl
October 22, 2024 Hour: 10:33 am
Last week, the Rome Court did not uphold the detention of 12 migrants and ordered their return to Italy.
On Tuesday, the administration of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia announced that it will appeal to the Supreme Court against the judiciary’s decision to end the detention of the first 12 migrants destined for centers in Albania.
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The Meloni administration has already instructed the State Attorney’s Office to file the appeal. The measure comes amid a dispute with the Rome Court over the migrant detention centers built in Albanian territory to manage potential repatriations.
The centers have been opened in the Albanian towns of Shengjin and Gjader, across the Adriatic Sea, under an agreement with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, and are intended to ease the migratory pressure on Italy’s reception system.
On October 16, the Meloni administration sent the first 16 migrants, of Egyptian and Bangladeshi nationality, to detention centers in Albania. Four of them had to be immediately returned to Italy because they were minors or vulnerable people.
Two days later, the Rome Court did not uphold the detention of the 12 remaining migrants and ordered their return to Italy, arguing that Egypt and Bangladesh could not be considered entirely safe countries, based on a recent ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
The Rome Court’s decision angered Meloni, who last night included a list of safe countries in a decree in an attempt to prevent further interpretations by the judges. Her intention is to send migrants from safe countries to Albania to repatriate them more quickly.
Role of UNHCR
The first transfer of migrants intercepted at sea has raised strong doubts about whether this measure complies with international human rights standards, including the 1951 Refugee Convention. In August, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) already warned that it would monitor whether the plan complied with the convention, also noting that it had not been consulted during negotiations between Italy and Albania.
“UNHCR has agreed to play a monitoring role for three months, and after that period, we will assess the situation and a possible extension of this activity,” said agency spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh, clarifying that this work has just begun, with UNHCR staff present at the two Albanian centers built to house migrants.
When Albania and Italy first announced the agreement on November 6, 2023, UNHCR stated that in any case, the primary responsibility for asylum seekers would fall on the first country of arrival, which in this case is Italy.
Shared Responsibility, Not Shifted Responsibility
The agency has pointed out that states can coordinate with each other for the protection of migrants and refugees, but only if their agreements serve to establish shared responsibility and not to shirk it, as doing so would violate the 1951 Convention.
“Agreements that involve the legal transfer of asylum seekers can be acceptable, but on the condition that they advance international cooperation for refugee protection,” Saltmarsh added.
“These transfers must be carried out with the guarantee that international human rights and refugee protection laws are respected and that the agreement contributes to sharing responsibilities, not avoiding them,” emphasized the spokesperson.
Main Concerns and Risks
One of UNHCR’s major concerns is that outsourcing the management of these groups could lead to their “indefinite storage” in remote locations, putting them at risk of “indirect refoulement,” among other dangers.
So far, UNHCR has been cautious in commenting on the agreement between Italy and Albania, both signatories of the 1951 Convention. However, other human rights organizations have been more critical, releasing reports that outline many breaches of international law that such transfers may entail.
To begin with, they may violate the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue and the one regulating maritime safety, which stipulate that a state is obligated to rescue stranded people at sea quickly, treat them humanely, and ensure their safe disembarkation.
Human rights defenders also consider possible violations of the right to liberty of those taken to Albania, who could face periods of up to six months awaiting the completion of asylum procedures (or 18 months if asylum is ultimately denied and their expulsion is ordered).
This would constitute illegal detentions that would violate agreements like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, its equivalent for migrant workers’ rights, or the European Convention on Human Rights.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
