Italy court deals fresh blow to Meloni's migrant plan

A Sicilian court on Monday dealt a fresh blow to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's migrant policy by declaring applications for asylum from Egypt could not be fast-tracked.

Egypt was included on the government's list of so-called "safe" countries to which migrants could be returned under an expedited process -- a list updated only last month.

But the Catania court ruled Monday that Egypt cannot be considered a "safe" country, citing a European Court of Justice ruling from last month that the level of security in such nations must be "general and constant" for them to be considered safe.

The head of Catania's court, Massimo Escher, documented "serious human rights violations" in Egypt, including systematic use of torture by police, violence against human rights lawyers and journalists, and discrimination against women, religious minorities, and LGBTQ people.

For that reason, he refused to sign off on a detention order for an Egyptian asylum seeker.

The lawyer for the unnamed migrant, Rosa Emanuela Lo Faro, told AFP the Catania court had refused to sign off on detention orders for four other migrants Monday, two from Egypt and two from Bangladesh.

The ECJ ruling was also cited by a Rome judge last month who ruled against the transfer of the first group of migrants -- from Bangladesh and Egypt -- to two new Italian-run processing centers in Albania.

The Albania deal, the first time a European Union country has sought to process asylum applications outside the bloc, is a flagship policy of Meloni's hard-right government.

In response to the ECJ ruling, the government updated its list of "safe" countries, removing Cameroon, Colombia, and Nigeria, but keeping a total of 19 including Bangladesh, Egypt, and Tunisia.

Meloni, the leader of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, was elected in 2022 on a pledge to stop the tens of thousands of migrants who arrive in small boats on Italy's shores each year from North Africa.

She struck a deal one year ago to house non-vulnerable male asylum migrants picked up by Italian authorities in the Mediterranean in the Albania centers, where those hailing from so-called "safe" countries aim to be swiftly repatriated.

But the scheme has sparked major concerns about whether the rights of those taken to Albania are being respected.

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini's League party slammed the Catania court decision Monday, saying Egypt was an "increasingly popular holiday destination".

"Egypt is a safe country for everyone, except for illegal immigrants," it said.