Italy dispatches first group of migrants to Albania, source says

By Angelo Amante

ROME (Reuters) - Italy is transporting a first group of migrants to Albania aboard a navy ship, a source close to the matter said on Monday, activating a controversial plan to process thousands of asylum-seekers abroad.

Giorgia Meloni's government has built two reception centres in Albania, the first such deal involving a European Union nation diverting migrants to a non-EU country in an effort to deter irregular arrivals.

The source, who asked not to be named, said the Libra ship had departed from near the island of Lampedusa with 16 male migrants who were rescued at sea on Sunday. Ten were from Bangladesh and six from Egypt -- both deemed safe countries by Italy.

Italy has said only "non-vulnerable" men coming from countries classified as safe would be sent to Albania.

At present there are 21 such nations on the Italian list. Last year, 56,588 migrants arrived in Italy from just four of them -- Bangladesh, Egypt, Ivory Coast and Tunisia.

The Libra was expected to arrive in Albania on Wednesday morning, the source said.

Under the terms of the Albania accord, up to 36,000 migrants can be dispatched to the Balkan nation each year, so long as they come from the list of safe countries, which severely limits the possibility of them obtaining asylum.

However, a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued earlier this month may throw a spanner in the works, experts say, as it limits the definition of what might be considered a safe country outside the EU.

Ruling on a separate case involving the Czech Republic, the Court said a country outside the bloc cannot be declared safe unless its entire territory is deemed free of danger.

"The court is telling governments that they can make their own lists of safe countries, but they are wrong if they include nations that have unsafe areas," said Matteo Villa, a senior research fellow with the ISPI think-tank.

"If the ruling were applied (here), hardly anybody could be sent (to Albania)," he said, adding that the sentence would endanger Rome's plans only if Italian judges used it to reject initial requests to send migrants to Albania.

The Italian interior ministry declined to comment on the ECJ decision.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Gareth Jones)