An Italian navy vessel transported migrants back to Italy from asylum processing centres in Albania following a ruling by a court in Rome, reports AP.

This marked the third unsuccessful effort by Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government to process migrants in the non-EU nation.

Italy sends 49 migrants to Albania after court rejections

A coast guard ship carried 43 migrants from the port of Shengjin, located 66 kilometres (40 miles) northwest of Tirana. They were part of a group of 49 men transferred to Albania aboard an Italian naval vessel on Tuesday. Five of them were returned the same day—four due to being minors and the fifth classified as a “vulnerable” individual.

The status of one remaining migrant remains uncertain.

According to Italian media, the men originated from Bangladesh, Egypt, Ivory Coast, and Gambia.

On Friday, an Italian appeals court in Rome declined to authorise the rapid expulsion of 43 asylum-seekers detained in Albania since Tuesday under a contentious migration agreement designed to relocate proceedings beyond European Union borders.

The court referred the case to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, which is expected to issue a ruling on 25 February regarding previous cases. A series of lower court decisions has created a rift between the Meloni government and Italy’s judicial system.

In October and November, judges similarly blocked the expulsion of smaller migrant groups, seeking clarification from the European court on which countries could be deemed safe for repatriation of individuals whose asylum applications had been rejected.

Last year, Italy signed a five-year agreement to process up to 3,000 migrants per month outside EU borders as part of Meloni’s strategy to curb illegal migration. Italy is a primary destination for tens of thousands of migrants who undertake the perilous central Mediterranean crossing.

While the agreement has drawn criticism from human rights activists, some European partners have shown interest in the initiative.

Italy, Albania, and the UAE sign clean energy deal

In the first four weeks of this year, 3,704 migrants arrived in Italy, nearly three times the number recorded in the same period last year. Over the entirety of last year, 66,317 migrants arrived in Italy, marking a 58% decrease from the previous year. The largest group consisted of Bangladeshis, followed by Syrians, Tunisians, and Egyptians, according to the Italian Interior Ministry.