An Italian navy vessel returned 12 migrants to Italy from an Albanian center on Saturday, following a court decision that questioned the Italian government’s strategy to transfer migrant processing to the Balkan nation.
The migrants boarded the Guardia Costiera ship at the Shengjin port for their trip to Italy.
They were among a group of 16 intercepted in international waters and taken to two centers in Albania earlier this week.
On Friday, a Rome court ruled against the detention of the 12 migrants, stating they could not be returned to their home countries notably Bangladesh and Egypt due to safety concerns.
The contentious deal to transfer the housing of asylum-seekers to a non-EU country has been praised by certain nations, including Italy, which are facing a significant influx of migrants.
Human rights organisations have condemned the outsourcing move as a perilous example.
