Rome Court Blocks Migrant Processing in Albania

A Rome court has blocked Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's initiative to process migrant asylum claims in Albania, ruling that the first group of 16 migrants must be returned to Italy. The court decided that the migrants, mostly from Egypt and Bangladesh, could not be sent back to their countries as they were not deemed safe, citing a European Court of Justice precedent. This verdict challenges Meloni's flagship policy to outsource asylum processing, which involves sending up to 3,000 migrants monthly to Albania. Critics argue the scheme is costly and infringes on migrants' rights, while Meloni plans to appeal the decision and insists that defining safe countries should be a governmental prerogative. The Italian government has convened a cabinet meeting to address the issue and intends to pass new regulations to overcome the legal obstacle.