Arrr! The courts of Albania be sayin' nay to the agreement with Italy, be they scurvy rats or wise men?
2023-12-13
Arrr! Me hearties, the Constitutional Court o' Albania hath temporarily scuppered the ratification o' that thorny asylum processing agreement signed wit' Italy. Aye, we be sailin' in troubled waters, mateys!
The Constitutional Court of Albania has temporarily blocked the ratification of a controversial deal that would have seen the country process asylum applications for migrants arriving in Italy by sea. The court's chief judge, Olta Zacaj, announced that a public hearing would be held on January 18th to determine whether the agreement violates Albania's constitution. As a result of the court's decision, the Parliament will not vote on the deal as planned. The opposition, which petitioned against the agreement, argues that it goes against Albania's constitution and international law. Under the five-year deal, Albania was supposed to provide shelter for up to 36,000 migrants for a year, with Italy fast-tracking their asylum requests. The processing centers would have been run by Italian officials, with Albanian guards providing security. Italy would have covered the costs of construction and operation. The opposition claims that this manner of housing migrants would deny them their constitutional rights. The Parliament, where the governing Socialists hold the majority, was expected to ratify the deal despite objections from the opposition and rights activists. Italy turned to Albania after failing to get more help from other EU nations to handle the growing number of migrant arrivals.