Italy court again blocks migrant detentions in Albania, in blow to Meloni

FILE PHOTO: A general view of the reception camp, as migrants who were intercepted at sea and later detained at a reception facility in Albania are transferred to Italy after a court in Rome overturned their detention orders, in Shengjin, Albania, October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Florion Goga/File Photo

ROME (Reuters) - A Rome court on Friday ordered a group of migrants detained in camps built in Albania to be transferred to Italy, sources said, dealing a fresh blow to a plan by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to curb irregular sea arrivals.

The decision involved 43 migrants from Egypt and Bangladesh who had been brought to Albania this week after being picked up in the Mediterranean, in the latest attempt to enforce a policy whose validity had already been questioned by the judiciary.