Italy Slams EU Court Ruling for Weakening Asylum Policy
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has criticised Friday’s European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on the classification of safe countries of origin. She said the decision further restricted the already limited room for manoeuvre of governments.
“This is a step that should worry everyone,” Meloni said.
“The court’s decision weakens the policy to combat illegal mass immigration and to protect national borders,” said the leader of the far-right ruling Brothers of Italy party.
In a case brought by Italy, the ECJ ruled earlier that European Union countries were allowed to designate countries of origin as safe to fast-track asylum procedures if authorities disclose the sources for their assessment.
“The sources of information on which such a designation is based must be sufficiently accessible, both for the applicant and for the court or tribunal having jurisdiction,” the EU’s top court wrote in a press release.
A second condition laid out by the court stipulates that a state can only be designated as a safe country of origin if it offers adequate protection to the entire population, including minorities.
As part of an effort by the right-wing government in Rome to speed up the vetting of asylum requests and to allow fewer people to enter the country.
Italy has issued a list labelling a number of countries as safe enough for migrants to be ineligible for international protection.
The Italian government aims to bring migrants hailing from countries designated as safe and intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea to a reception centre in Albania where their asylum requests are examined under an accelerated procedure.
Two Bangladeshi nationals had challenged the rejection of their requests for international protection based on the assumption that Bangladesh is a safe country as per the list.
The Italian court dealing with the matter had called on the ECJ to clarify if the Italian government was allowed to compile the list of safe countries under EU law.
It said that if Rome has to unveil its sources for declaring a country as safe and what criteria have to be respected.
Meloni criticised the decision as interference by the courts in political matters.
She said the judiciary this time the European one was claiming responsibilities that do not belong to it, while the responsibility lies with politicians.
According to her, the ruling gives precedence to the assessments of individual national judges over the evaluation by specialist ministries and parliament.
Rome also views the timing of the court’s decision skeptically.
The ruling comes a few months before the entry into force of a new EU migration pact, which provides for stricter rules for dealing with safe countries of origin.
The government in Rome announced that it would seek all possible technical and legal solutions by then to ensure the safety of citizens.
With right-wing positions gaining popularity across the 27-member bloc, many EU countries are adapting a tougher stance on migration.
Several capitals are discussing setting up accommodation centres for rejected asylum seekers in countries outside the bloc.
Italy’s push to process protection requests and accommodate rejected migrants in Albania is however facing several legal obstacles.
