Courts Repatriate Criminal Migrants to Italy, Meloni Criticizes Judicial Actions

Rome: Italian courts are sending migrants who have committed crimes back to Italy from two new centres for processing and repatriation (CPRs) in Albania, Premier Giorgia Meloni told question time in the Senate Wednesday, criticizing the magistrates’ actions.

According to Ansa News Agency, the CPR was initially intended to serve as a deterrent for migrant departures from Africa by acting as a centre for migrants picked up at sea. However, the Italian government was forced to repurpose it as an ordinary centre for migrants in Italy after courts ruled against the detention of the first three batches of migrants sent to the Balkan country, citing that their countries of origin, Egypt and Bangladesh, were not wholly safe.

Premier Meloni explained, “We have decided to use the centers built in Albania as ordinary CPRs, so we have started to transfer irregular migrants awaiting repatriation.” She criticized court decisions that are ordering the retransfer to Italy for migrants who apply for international protection, even when such applications are manifestly unfounded.

Meloni expressed her concerns about the nature of crimes committed by these migrants, stating, “Now I don’t want to create controversy but I feel obliged to share with you the curriculum of these people to whom we should consider giving international protection: almost all the migrants transferred to Albania have committed very serious crimes, including theft, robbery, illegal possession of weapons, attempted murder, sexual violence, child pornography, solicitation of a minor, obscene acts in the proximity of a minor.”

She further argued against keeping such individuals in Italy, adding, “Some people want to keep these people in Italy at all costs, but we want to repatriate them.” By the end of this week, more than 25% of the migrants processed in Albania are expected to have been sent home, showcasing the effectiveness of the strategy and procedures implemented despite ideological opposition.

Meloni concluded with a call for a stricter Italy, “We want an Italy that is finally capable of enforcing the rules, of being uncompromising with those who commit crimes and of defending the safety of honest citizens.”