Italy’s government plans to restart its contentious scheme to process asylum seekers in Albania in early 2025, officials including Prime Minister Georgia Meloni have said, despite legal setbacks that have stalled the initiative.

The programme, which aims to house migrants in Albania while their applications are assessed, hit a hurdle when Italian courts refused to validate the detention of the first two groups of asylum seekers, 20 men in total. 

The courts referred the matter to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which has previously ruled that asylum seekers cannot be subject to expedited procedures that might lead to deportation if their home countries are deemed unsafe.

Italy’s rightwing government, led by Meloni, has promoted the Albania initiative as a potential blueprint for broader European adoption. Two processing centres in Albania are expected to handle up to 3,000 migrants a month, or 36,000 a year, once fully operational.

Meloni announced in December that the scheme would resume in the new year, with the Italian Navy vessel Lybra poised to transport more migrants. 

The policy has drawn international attention, with supporters, including US president elect Donald Trump’s new efficiency tsar Elon Musk, praising its innovative approach.

Despite the government’s ambitions, the scheme has faced mounting criticism. Opponents have mocked the expensive but unused centres, alleging they currently serve as shelters for stray dogs rather than centres for asylum seekers.

In October, a Rome court overturned the decision to send 12 migrants to Albania, ruling that their countries of origin, Egypt and Bangladesh, were not sufficiently safe, in line with ECJ precedent. A second batch of eight migrants faced a similar fate when another court invalidated their detention.

In response, the Italian government drafted a list of "safe countries”, including Egypt and Bangladesh. However, the Supreme Court of Cassation ruled on December 20 that while the determination of safe countries falls to Italian ministers, an ECJ ruling must first be issued.

Over 150,000 migrants arrived in Italy by sea in 2023, but arrivals dropped sharply in 2024. Official data shows 42,006 arrivals in the first eight months of 2024, a 63% decrease from the same period of the previous year.