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\n Published on 01\/08\/2025 – 13:24 GMT+2
\n \u2022Updated
\n 18:52\n <\/p>\n
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The European Court of Justice (ECJ) sided with an Italian court that questioned the government\u2019s designation of Bangladesh as a \u201csafe country of origin\u201d \u2014 a label that allows deportations and detentions of asylum seekers while their application is under review<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The judgment emphasised that these designations must allow for judicial review and be backed by clear, accessible evidence. A country cannot be labelled \u201csafe\u201d according to the ruling if it isn\u2019t safe for specific vulnerable groups.<\/p>\n The case was sparked by two Bangladeshi nationals rescued at sea by Italian authorities and transferred to Albania, where Italy had built two offshore processing centres. There, migrants can apply for asylum as if they were on Italian soil \u2014 but only if they\u2019re from countries Italy deems \u201csafe\u201d. Those who aren\u2019t must be allowed to stay in Italy while their asylum claims are processed.<\/p>\n Italy updated<\/a> its list of \u201csafe\u201d countries in October 2024 to include Bangladesh, Egypt, and others \u2014 a move criticised for ignoring threats some individuals may still face in those countries. When the Bangladeshis appealed their rejections, the Italian court sent the case to the ECJ, citing lack of transparency in how \u201csafety\u201d was assessed.<\/p>\n Rome pushes back<\/strong><\/p>\n Italy\u2019s right-wing government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, lashed out at the ruling, accusing the EU court of \u201coverreach\u201d and undermining national sovereignty. In a statement<\/a>, the government argued that the ECJ had prioritized individual judges\u2019 opinions over in-depth government investigations.<\/p>\n Rome claims the decision weakens its ability to fight illegal immigration and protect borders.<\/p>\n Despite the ruling, Italy\u2019s deportations to Albania will continue \u2014 for now. Authorities have since redefined<\/a> the role of the Albanian centres to include migrants whose asylum claims have already been rejected. The court decision is seen as a win for Italian judges but has limited short-term impact on government policy.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, EU asylum law is evolving. A regulation set to take effect in June 2026 or sooner will allow governments to declare countries \u201csafe\u201d with certain exceptions \u2014 aligning more closely with Italy\u2019s approach. The European Commission has also proposed<\/a> its own non-binding list of safe countries, including Egypt and Bangladesh.<\/p>\n As of now, Italy\u2019s Albania centres hold only a few dozen people \u2014 despite a target of 3,000 monthly. They\u2019re also expensive: a study by an Italian university found each place in Albania costs over \u20ac153,000, compared to just \u20ac21,000 at similar centres in Sicily, according to a recent study<\/a> from an Italian University. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published on 01\/08\/2025 – 13:24 GMT+2 \u2022Updated 18:52 ADVERTISEMENT The European Court of Justice (ECJ) sided with an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[10541,2000,299,5187,2199,5804],"class_list":{"0":"post-313696","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-albania","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-european","12":"tag-italy","13":"tag-migrant-crisis"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114963107279803838","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}