Italian media say a court in Rome has ruled that 12 migrants should not be detained in asylum processing centers in neighboring Albania for their screenings.
The decision appears likely to deliver a blow to the Italian government, which is working to curtail an influx of illegal migration.
The news outlets say the court on Friday handed down the ruling for the 12 migrants who had already been sent to the centers. The decision came only two days after authorities began moving migrants to the facilities.
The Italian government allows migrants to be transferred to the centers if, among other conditions, their countries of origin are safe enough for them to be sent back.
But the court determined that the 12 migrants’ countries of origin — Egypt and Bangladesh — could not be deemed safe. The migrants were reportedly transferred to Italy one day after the court ruling.
Waves of illegal migrants have been crossing the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa and elsewhere to seek asylum in EU nations. The International Organization for Migration says about 150,000 migrants arrived in Italy in 2023.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been hoping to discourage illegal migration by sending arrivals to the facilities in Albania, a non-EU member country situated across the Adriatic Sea from Italy.