Italy’s prime minister pledged Monday to proceed with deporting irregular migrants to Albania despite court challenges, insisting the plan has public backing.
Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government has built two facilities in the Balkan country to hold migrants while processing their asylum requests, but Rome courts have issued repeated counter orders, bringing anyone taken there to Italy.
The judges have cited doubts over the scheme's compliance with a recent ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which questioned the legality of repatriating migrants to nations that might not be considered totally safe.
The European Union court is due to revisit the case later this month and clarify its position.
"The hope is that the ECJ will avert the risk of jeopardizing the repatriation policies not only of Italy, but of all EU member states," Meloni told a gathering of senior police officers.
The ECJ ruling said a country could not repatriate a migrant if any part of their home nation was considered unsafe.
The original case did not involve Italy, but Italian judges said the sentence nonetheless raised doubts about the government's plan to send migrants detained in Albania back home if their asylum requests were rejected.
Government supporters have accused the judges of deliberately sabotaging one of Meloni's policy priorities as part of a broader clash over plans to reform the justice system -- something the judiciary has denied.
"We are committed to finding a solution to every obstacle," Meloni told the police conference.
"Citizens are asking us to stop illegal immigration because it causes insecurity, lack of integration and an inability to guarantee the rule of law," she said.
