Italy approves new immigration law

The Italian government adopted a new law Monday aimed at overcoming judicial barriers to implementation of Albania's controversial agreement on immigrants. Under the new decree, which has immediately entered into force, the Italian government has cut the list of countries it considers secure. Migrants who will not gain asylum status will not be deported to uncertain countries.

The number of countries Italy considers safe has already declined to 19, down from 22 previously. Cameroon, Colombia, and Nigeria have been excluded from the list.

The decision was made after the court in Rome brought down the ban on the first 12 immigrants sent to Albania's immigrant waiting centre. The court ruled that their countries of origin -- Bangladesh and Egypt -- were not safe places for their return. After the court ruling, immigrants returned to Italy, where they can re-approximate for asylum.

The government decided to make the difference with a legal act, instead of a government decision, thus making its impasse in court more difficult.

“Law is in line with European Court of Justice decisions. So we removed from the original list three countries, which, during the assessment, resulted in problems that do not allow us to be fully secure”, said Italian Interior Minister Matteo Pietedos.

The court of Rome's ruling was particularly motivated by a new ruling by the European Court of Justice, which ruled that a country can be considered sure of the return of migrants unless the entire territory of that country is secure.

The detention by Italian courts became the first legal obstacle to the five-year agreement between Albania and Italy for temporary accommodation of about 3 thousand migrants a month, caught at sea by Italian coast guard.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Melon has defended the agreement reached with Albania, as a <x0modus” approach of illegal immigrants, and the new legal change tries to preserve this image.

“Done on this point, since everything originated from a European Court of Justice ruling, which is very complex and very well-articulated and was probably not properly understood and read”, Justice Minister Carlo Nodio said.

Human rights organisations and groups of activists in the Mediterranean have criticised the Italian-Albania agreement as a dangerous precedent that violates international laws. Some legal experts also point out that even the latest changes of the Italian government will not be able to provide solutions to future legal conflicts, as EU decisions prevail over the laws of member states. / VOA