Rome Court ruling leads to repatriation of migrants from Gjadër Camp again
Three days after arriving at the Gjadër camp, seven migrants from Bangladesh and Egypt have been returned to Italy. The migrants were sent back to Puglia following a decision by the Rome Court, which suspended the validity of their detainment. The ruling highlighted that the Italian police failed to act according to the law, which requires confirmation of detentions within 48 hours.
Why is this important: This is the second ruling of its kind by the Rome Court within a month. Previously, migrants who arrived in mid-October and were placed in the Gjadër camp were also sent back. The court determined that the countries they came from were not considered safe, obligating Italy to keep them on its territory and process their asylum requests within the legal timeframe. The agreement signed in November of the previous year between the Italian and Albanian governments, under Prime Ministers Meloni and Rama, stipulated that migrants intercepted in Italian territorial waters and deemed to come from safe zones would be housed in Gjadër.
Context: The decision has sparked significant debate in Italy. Deputy Prime Ministers Matteo Salvini and Antonio Tajani have criticized the judiciary, claiming that judges are undermining the government’s policies, jeopardizing Italian security. Meanwhile, the court has referred the decree issued by the Meloni government—which redefined the list of safe countries—to the European Court of Justice for interpretation.
Rome Court’s statement: “It should be emphasized that the criteria for designating a country as a safe country of origin are determined by European Union law. Therefore, without infringing on the prerogatives of the national legislature, the judge must always verify—specifically and concretely—that EU law is correctly applied, as it prevails over national law when there is a conflict, as provided by the Italian Constitution.”
The October 18 ruling by the Rome Court was appealed by the Meloni government to the Court of Cassation and was followed by the issuance of a decree with the force of law to update the list of safe countries. Italy’s Ministry of the Interior has also announced plans to challenge the Italian judiciary’s decisions at the European Court of Justice.
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