Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has described Italy as “a model” for immigration policy after she struck a deal with Albanian leader Edi Rama to process up to 30,000 migrants a year in Albanian centers.Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images

Rome court rules offshore detention of migrants in Albania illegal – POLITICO

· POLITICO

ROME — Just one week in, Italy’s landmark scheme to send migrants to detention and asylum-processing centers in Albania has already stalled.

The immigration unit of the Rome Court on Friday ruled that migrants sent by Italy to Albania cannot be detained. This means that they must be released — but since they cannot be released in Albania under the agreement, they will likely be returned to Italy.

The centers became operational one week ago, with the first 16 migrants from Bangladesh and Egypt arriving on an Italian warship this Wednesday.