The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has significantly raised the criteria for EU member states to designate countries as “safe” for expedited asylum procedures. In a ruling issued Friday from its Luxembourg seat, the court stipulated that states must now demonstrate transparency regarding the sources used to assess a country’s safety and ensure the security of its entire population to qualify for inclusion on a safe countries list.
The case arose from a legal challenge concerning Italy’s use of reception and deportation centers for migrants located in northern Albania. This represents the first time the ECJ has addressed the specific conditions under which EU member states can deem a country of origin “safe” and whether asylum applications from individuals originating from these nations can be processed through a streamlined procedure, directly facilitating returns to their home countries from a third state, in this instance, Albania.
Italy has been utilizing the northern Albanian centers as deportation facilities for rejected asylum seekers previously housed within Italy since March. According to media reports, Italy conducted its first deportation flight on May 9th, returning five Egyptian nationals to Cairo via a chartered flight from Tirana. Currently, approximately two dozen rejected asylum seekers from countries classified as safe are housed at the Albanian facilities, awaiting deportation. The ECJ’s decision is expected to have significant implications for Italy’s agreement with Albania and other similar arrangements EU states may pursue regarding migrant processing.
