Court rejects Italy's Albania program

A Rome court decision to outlaw outsourcing asylum-seeker processing in Albania in the so-called "return hubs" has dealt a huge blow to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and many other European Union leaders.

The Rome Court's immigration unit ruled on Friday that migrants sent to Albania by Italy cannot be detained and also cannot be released in Albania. Instead, they will be vetted in Italy for asylum eligibility or potentially sent back to their countries of origin.

According to the ruling, the first batch of 12 migrants, from Bangladesh and Egypt, were returned to Italy on Saturday from the newly opened asylum processing centers in Albania, just three days after their arrival.