Egypt and Bangladesh are on the
European Commission's provisional list of safe countries for
migrant repatriation that is set to be distributed to EU members
in the coming hours, according to a draft of the document which
ANSA has seen.
Italian courts, referring to a European Court of Justice ruling,
stymied the transfer of the first three batches of migrants,
Egyptians and Bangladeshis, to two Italian run centres in
Albania late last year and early this year because the whole of
their territories was not designated as safe.
The Italian government is hoping to revive the innovative but
controversial scheme for offshoring to a non-EU country the
processing of migrants heading for the EU, as a deterrent.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has praised
the Italy-Albania protocol while several other EU members have
voiced interest in it, as well as the UK.
After the rejection of the first three batches of migrants, the
first Albanian processing centre for migrants picked up at sea
has been repurposed to a holding and repatriation centre (CPR)
for migrants already at Italian CPRs. The first 40 were moved
there on Friday.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
