• Meloni’s government passes new law to save Albania migration transfer policy

    Move by Italian PM overturns ruling by a Rome court that could have blocked deal to curb migrant arrivals

    Italy’s far-right government has passed a new law to overcome a court ruling that risks blocking the country’s multimillion-dollar deal with Albania aimed at curbing migrant arrivals.

    On Friday, a court in Rome ruled to transfer back to Italy the last 12 asylum seekers being held in the new Italian migration hub in Albania. The ruling has cast doubt on the feasibility and legality of plans by the EU to explore ways to establish migrant processing and detention centres outside the bloc as part of a new hardline approach to migration.

    The group of individuals, who had arrived at the port of Shëngjin from Lampedusa onboard a military vessel last week, were among the 16 people transferred for the first time to the designated facility in Gjadër under the agreement between Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and the Albanian prime minister, Edi Rama, aimed at holding men who are intercepted in international waters while trying to cross from Africa to Europe.

    Four of the 16 men were immediately sent back to Italy on Thursday, including two who were underage and two who were deemed as vulnerable.

    The remaining 12 individuals whom the Rome judges ordered be transferred back to Italy were returned via the port of Bari on Saturday in a blow to Meloni that risks turning the initiative into what aid workers and opposition groups have deemed a “complete failure” and a “financial disaster”.

    Meloni’s party, the far-right Brothers of Italy, angrily condemned the decision on social media, blaming “politicised magistrates” who “would like to abolish Italy’s borders. We will not allow it.”

    Italy’s justice minister, Carlo Nordio, attacked the judges, saying “the definition of a safe country cannot be up to the judiciary”.

    The dispute that has sparked the clash revolves around the definition of what constitutes “safe countries” of origin. The 16 asylum seekers hailed from Egypt and Bangladesh, countries deemed safe by Italy, and therefore, according to the government, they should have been repatriated to their countries of origin.

    However, the judges ordered their transfer to Italy, saying the men could be at risk of violence if repatriated, effectively upholding the 4 October ruling of the European court of justice that the Italian government appeared to have overlooked. As a general rule, EU law takes precedence over conflicting national laws.

    The EU court made it clear that a country not entirely safe cannot be deemed safe, underlining that the condition of insecurity, even if limited to a specific part of the country, such as a certain region, could lead to the entire country being deemed unsafe.

    The council of ministers approved the decree after an emergency meeting held late Monday afternoon. The aim of the new law is to draw up a new list of safe countries, which can be updated every six months, and to allow a court of appeal to reconsider rulings that order the transfer of asylum seekers to Italy. From now on, the country of origin will be a primary condition for repatriation. Meloni’s government hopes in this way to bind the magistrates’ decision to government decrees and not to international laws.

    “In compliance with the ruling of the European court of justice, countries that contain unsafe territorial areas are excluded from the list: Nigeria, Cameroon and Colombia,” said the undersecretary to the presidency of the council, Alfredo Mantovano, in a press conference at Palazzo Chigi after the council of ministers’ meeting.

    Meloni said: “We will continue to work tirelessly to defend our borders.”

    The row between the judges and the government escalated further on Sunday when Meloni published excerpts on social media of a letter sent by one prosecutor to a group which includes judges.

    In it, Judge Marco Patarnello warned that Meloni was “stronger and much more dangerous” than the former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who faced frequent legal woes and who repeatedly attacked the judiciary.

    Rightwing politicians said the letter proved the legal bias against the government.

    Critics said however that Meloni did not post the rest of the text, in which Patarnello said “we must not engage in political opposition, but we must defend jurisdiction and the citizens’ right to an independent judge”.

    On Monday, the president of the judiciary’s union, Giuseppe Santalucia, said: “We are not against the government, it would be absurd to think that the judiciary, an institution of the country, is against an institution of the country like political power.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/21/meloni-rushes-to-pass-new-law-to-save-albania-migration-transfer-policy

    #Italie #Albanie #externalisation #accord #migrations #asile #réfugiés #frontières #decret #pays-sûrs

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    ajouté à la métaliste sur l’#accord entre #Italie et #Albanie pour la construction de #centres d’accueil (sic) et identification des migrants/#réfugiés sur le territoire albanais...

    https://seenthis.net/messages/1043873

    • CPR in Albania. Paesi “sicuri” per decreto legge

      I fatti sono noti: il fermo dei primi migranti, che la Libra, nave della Marina militare italiana, aveva portato in Albania non è stato convalidato dal tribunale di Roma. Nel CPR albanesi, secondo quanto stabilito dagli accordi con il governo di Tirana, potrebbero finire solo uomini adulti provenienti da paesi “sicuri”.
      Paesi “sicuri” sono quelli inclusi in una lista stilata dal governo.
      In base al parere della Corte europea giustizia sulla direttiva UE in materia di paesi “sicuri” che stabilisce che non possono esservi paesi assolutamente sicuri per tutt*, il tribunale di Roma ha obbligato il governo a trasferire in fretta in Italia e furia il gruppetto di uomini provenienti da Bangladesh ed Egitto, rinchiusi nel CPR di Gjader.
      La risposta del governo non si è fatta attendere. Ieri è stato emesso un decreto legge, quindi immediatamente in vigore, sino alla scontata convalida del parlamento, in cui viene definita per legge la lista dei paesi “sicuri”.
      Nei fatti il governo se ne infischia del merito e va dritto allo scopo: selezionare, rinchiudere e deportare esseri umani in eccesso per mantenere il consenso nel proprio elettorato.

      https://radioblackout.org/2024/10/cpr-in-albania-paesi-sicuri-per-decreto-legge

    • L’Italie publie un nouveau décret sur les « pays sûrs » pour sauver son accord avec l’Albanie

      Le gouvernement italien a publié lundi un nouveau décret visant à sauver son accord avec l’Albanie, qui prévoit l’externalisation des demandes d’asile dans ce pays voisin. L’exécutif a dévoilé une nouvelle liste de pays considérés comme « sûrs » pour envoyer les ressortissants originaires de ces États vers l’Albanie, sans être contrecarré par une décision de justice. Mais les juristes estiment que cette modification législative risque quand même de poser de nouvelles questions juridiques.

      Le gouvernement italien contre-attaque. La coalition au pouvoir, alliant droite et extrême droite, a adopté lundi 21 octobre en Conseil des ministre un décret qui inscrit dans la loi 19 pays considérés comme « sûrs » par Rome pour y rapatrier les migrants.

      Un moyen pour le gouvernement de sauver son accord avec l’Albanie, mis à mal par une décision de justice vendredi. Un tribunal romain a en effet invalidé la rétention des 12 premiers migrants arrivés sur le sol albanais mercredi 16 octobre, après avoir été interceptés en Méditerranée par les autorités italiennes. Ces hommes, originaires d’Égypte et du Bangladesh, ont dû être rapatriés en Italie trois jours plus tard.

      Les juges italiens se sont appuyés sur un récent arrêt de la Cour européenne de justice (CJUE), qui estime que le Bangladesh et l’Égypte ne sont pas des pays sûrs, contrairement à l’Italie.

      Nouvelle liste de pays « sûrs »

      Afin de se conformer à la législation européenne, l’exécutif italien a exclu aujourd’hui trois pays parmi les 22 de sa liste précédente de « pays sûrs ». Désormais, le #Cameroun, la #Colombie et le #Nigeria en sont exclus. Toutefois, la nouvelle liste, qui a vocation à être mise à jour annuellement, comprend toujours le #Bangladesh, la #Tunisie et l’#Egypte.

      Le décret ministériel, dont l’entrée en vigueur est immédiate, vise « à garantir que le recours à la demande de protection ne soit pas largement exploité pour échapper à la justice », a déclaré le ministre de l’Intérieur, Matteo Piantedosi.

      Mais ce nouveau texte suffira-t-il à contrer la justice, comme le souhaite la Première ministre Giorgia Meloni ? Selon des juristes, cette modification législative risque de poser de nouvelles questions juridiques, et même avec ce décret, c’est bien la législation européenne qui prévaut malgré tout.

      « Magistrats politisés »

      La décision de la justice italienne est un revers cinglant pour la cheffe du gouvernement, qui a fait de la lutte contre l’immigration irrégulière sa priorité.

      « Je ne crois pas qu’il soit de la compétence des juges de décider quels pays sont sûrs et lesquels ne le sont pas, c’est une compétence du gouvernement », avait-t-elle déclaré, alors que son parti avait dénoncé une décision « absurde » et fustigé des « magistrats politisés ».

      De son côté, le ministre de la Justice Carlo Nordio a dénoncé « un arrêt de la Cour de Justice européenne qui est complexe, très détaillé et qui n’a probablement pas été bien compris ni bien lu ».

      L’accord avec Tirana, qui a du plomb dans l’aile, était pourtant présenté comme un exemple à suivre au sein de l’Union européenne (UE). Depuis quelques jours, les États membres - dont certains veulent appliquer le modèle italien - ont les yeux rivés sur l’Italie, et sur sa possibilité ou non d’externaliser les demandes d’asile dans un pays hors UE.

      https://www.infomigrants.net/fr/post/60711/litalie-publie-un-nouveau-decret-sur-les-pays-surs-pour-sauver-son-acc

    • Italy: What next for the government’s Albania plan?

      The Italian government’s plan to process asylum seekers in Albania has hit a stumbling block. The government insists it will go ahead anyway, but if it is contrary to EU law, can it really proceed? InfoMigrants asked an expert from the Italian juridical association ASGI.

      Italy claims its Albania plan is in step with European policy, but Italian judges have ruled that legally, it contravenes European and human rights law. Where does the plan go from here?

      An Italian naval ship, the Libra, is currently docked in Sicily. According to the Italian news agency ANSA, the ship is waiting for orders to move just outside Italy’s national waters, to take more migrants rescued on their way to Italy towards the centers in Albania.

      But given the decision by Rome’s tribunal last week, ordering migrants taken to Albania back to Rome to have their claims processed, can the Albanian system really work?

      Lucia Gennari is a lawyer and associate with ASGI, the Italian Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration. InfoMigrants put some of its questions to her:

      IM: The Italian government says it wants to go ahead, but can it, legally speaking?

      LG: Well, they passed a new decree on Monday. So, it seems that the way they are hoping to move ahead is to enshrine a list of safe countries of origin in law. But we know that judges are not obliged to apply [Italian] laws that might go against European Union principles and judgments and directives.

      To us the passing of this decree seems to be less about substantially changing things, from a legal perspective, and more about signaling that if there is a decision in the future where a judge rules that the person who comes from a country on the list should have their asylum claim heard anyway, they can accuse the courts of being politicized and trying to interfere with the policies of government.

      What they did with this decree was remove countries from the list that had territorial exceptions, arguing that the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling referenced by the Rome Tribunal applied only to these territorial restrictions. This is true, but also the ECJ was very clear that for a country to be considered safe, it has to “uniformly and systematically respect” human and civil rights.

      There is also an ongoing case before the ECJ on this very topic. It is very likely that there will be a second [European] decision that will exclude the possibility of considering a country safe when there are exceptions for certain categories of people. We have for example Bangladesh, which has a lot of exempted categories of people.

      The other thing they did, was to include the possibility of appealing at the court of appeal the possibility of administrative detention. Before you could only appeal at the high court, and that takes a long time. So previously, if a judge decided to revalidate the detention of someone, there was no way for the state to restart that detention. The new decree would make that possible.

      So, I think this is how they are hoping to keep going with the Albania protocol.

      IM: The navy has a ship waiting in Augusta, is it possible for the Italian government to send that ship out and pick up more people? Or are they perhaps waiting for nationals from countries that are not Egypt and Bangladesh to try and take them to Albania?

      LG: I don’t know why they are waiting. Perhaps it is because there is currently bad weather in the Mediterranean and perhaps there are not so many departures. I don’t think it is about trying to find nationals from other countries, because the logic will be the same.

      The mechanism is that they collect people who were rescued by other smaller Italian ships. The people are selected on board the rescue ship and some are brought to the Libra and some are sent to Lampedusa and others are sent back to Albania, but they have to be in international waters.

      IM: Does the Italian government’s decree regarding safe countries remind you of the former British government’s attempts to declare Rwanda safe above the ruling of the supreme court?

      LG: Yes, I don’t know in detail the mechanism for Rwanda. I think there are some differences, and perhaps the Italian government learned from the Rwanda plan, which failed completely. There is one crucial difference between Rwanda and Albania, and that is that in the Italian government’s plan, everyone who is brought to Albania, there is this fiction that they are still on Italian territory. All the laws that apply are the same as in Italy. It’s Italian law, the procedures are the same, at least theoretically. I think in practice there are probably a lot of differences, but, the UK wanted to hand over their responsibility of assessment of asylum claims to the Rwandan authorities, and this is a very big difference.

      https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/60808/italy-what-next-for-the-governments-albania-plan

  • Greece: Government Hit with Interim Measures and Introducing New List of Safe Country of Origin

    The Greek government adopted on January 4 a Joint Ministerial Decision that declares twelve countries as safe countries of origin. This includes Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, India, Morocco, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia and Ukraine.

    Introducing a list of safe countries of origin is one measure foreseen by the new International Protection Act (IPA) which has been heavily criticised for introducing several restrictions on individual rights and procedural guarantees in the Greek asylum system. Article 83(9) IPA foresees that applicants originating from a safe country of origin are subject to accelerated procedures.

    Until last week, there was no national list of safe countries in Greece and the rules relating to safe countries of origin in Greek law were not applied in practice.

    https://reliefweb.int/report/greece/greece-government-hit-interim-measures-and-introducing-new-list-safe-coun
    #pays-sûrs #liste #Grèce #pays_sûrs #Albanie #Algérie #Arménie #Gambie #Géorgie #Ghana #Inde #Maroc #Sénégal #Togo #Tunisie #Ukraine #asile #migrations #réfugiés

  • AEDH | Les listes de « pays sûrs » de l’Union européenne : un déni du droit d’asile
    http://asile.ch/2016/05/30/aedh-listes-de-pays-surs-de-lunion-europeenne-deni-droit-dasile

    Le 30 mai 2016, la Commission des libertés civiles, de la justice et des affaires intérieures (LIBE) du Parlement européen discutera les amendements proposés au projet de règlement proposé par la Commission européenne en septembre 2015 pour établir une liste commune de « pays d’origine sûrs ». Cette dénomination signifie qu’aucun risque de persécution n’existerait a priori […]

  • Dispatches: EU ‘Safe Country’ Lists Threaten Asylum Seekers’ Rights

    European Union leaders would do well to take note of a July 24 Canadian Federal Court ruling that Canada’s “safe country of origin” (SCO) list is unconstitutional because it is “discriminatory on its face” and serves to “marginalize, prejudice, and stereotype” asylum seekers coming from countries the government has designated as safe.

    http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/07/28/dispatches-eu-safe-country-lists-threaten-asylum-seekers-rights
    #pays-sûrs #asile #migration #réfugiés #UE #EU #Europe #pays_d'origine_sûr

  • Belgique : Le gouvernement confirme la liste des pays sûrs : mauvaise pratique et politique hypocrite

    22 mai 2013 -DEMANDEURS D’ASILE - La Ligue des droits de l’Homme rappelle sa ferme opposition à l’établissement d’une liste des pays sûrs et au choix - bancal - des pays bancal qu’elle énonce. LIRE LA SUITE.

    http://www.liguedh.be/espace-presse/123-communiques-de-presse-2012/1729-le-gouvernement-confirme-la-liste-des-pays-surs-mauvaise-pratique-et-po

    #pays-sûrs #Belgique #migration #asile #réfugiés