ROME: An Italian navy ship set sail for Albania on Wednesday carrying a second small group of migrants, with Rome looking to salvage a controversial plan to process asylum seekers abroad after a first attempt hit legal hurdles.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government hopes that taking boat migrants to guarded camps in Albania rather than letting them enter Italy will act as a deterrence to others considering making the dangerous sea crossing to Europe.
Italy sent an initial group of 16 migrants to Albania last month, but they were all brought back within days, the majority of them after a Rome court ruled they could not be held in the Balkan country due to concerns over their legal status.
Only eight migrants were dispatched toward Albania on Wednesday from where they had been rescued near the island of Lampedusa, suggesting the government was treading softly, testing to see if it could overcome the October impasse.
The first group of migrants came from Egypt and Bangladesh, two of 22 countries that Italy had classified as safe, meaning the government believed they could be rapidly repatriated.
However, the Rome judges questioned this, pointing to a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which said a country outside the EU cannot be declared safe unless its entire territory is deemed free of danger.
As a result, all those in Albania were brought to Italy, where they were put in unguarded reception centers.
Infuriated by the decision, Meloni’s cabinet upgraded the legal status of its list of safe countries, making it an act of law rather than a lesser ministerial decree, believing this means it will be harder for courts to challenge its validity.
The military did not say where the new group of asylum-seekers came from. Italian newspapers had speculated at the weekend that the government might focus on Tunisians, because their country was deemed more stable than many others.
Italy has built two reception centers in Albania, in the first scheme by a European Union nation to divert migrants to a non-EU country. The facilities in Shengjin and Gjader are staffed by Italian personnel.
Under the deal with Tirana, the total number of migrants present at one time in Albania cannot be more than 3,000.
Italy has said only “non-vulnerable” men from safe countries would be sent to there, imposing a limit of 36,000 a year.
Italian ship heads back to Albania with eight migrants
https://arab.news/bugxy
Italian ship heads back to Albania with eight migrants
- Italy sent an initial group of 16 migrants to Albania last month, but they were all brought back within days
- Only eight migrants were dispatched toward Albania on Wednesday from where they had been rescued near the island of Lampedusa
Bangladesh sets February date for first vote since 2024 mass uprising
- At least 1,400 protesters were killed in violent crackdown under ex-PM Hasina’s rule
- Interim government promises ‘all necessary support’ for upcoming elections
DHAKA: Bangladesh will hold national elections on Feb. 12, its chief election commissioner has announced, setting the timeline for the nation’s first vote since a student-led uprising that ousted long-serving Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Hasina, whose Awami League party-led government was marred by allegations of human rights violations, rigged elections and corruption, was removed from office in August last year after 15 uninterrupted years in power.
Bangladesh has since been led by interim leader Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, who took over governance after Hasina fled to India, where she is now in self-exile.
In a televised address on Thursday, chief election commissioner A.M.M. Nasir Uddin confirmed the voting date to elect 300 lawmakers and said a national referendum on political reforms would also be held on the same day.
“It’s a relief for the voters; it’s a relief for the country. It’s a relief for the investors, it’s a relief for the development partners and for the political parties and the people who did a massive job in July 2024 by sacrificing their lives and limbs to oust a tyranny,” said Prof. A.S.M. Amanullah, political analyst and vice chancellor of the National University in Dhaka.
Mass protests that broke out in 2024 began in early July as peaceful demonstrations, triggered by the reinstatement of a quota system for the allocation of civil service positions.
Two weeks later, they were met with a communications blackout and a violent crackdown by security forces.
A special tribunal in Dhaka found Hasina guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against the protesters, at least 1,400 people of whom died, according to estimates from the UN’s human rights office.
After a months-long trial, she was sentenced to death in November for crimes against humanity.
The February elections will take place in the aftermath of Hasina’s reign, with the Yunus-led administration banning all activities of Awami League, meaning the former ruling party would not be able to join the race next year.
Minor political tensions now revolve around the more than 40 million voters of the Awami League, as the public speculate “how they would move, in which party they would support or whether they would remain silent,” Amanullah said.
“(But) if you consider other than Awami League, if we consider the other political parties, I think the other political parties are sufficient, you know, to make the next poll participatory, and free and fair.”
Bangladesh last held elections in January 2024, which saw Hasina return to office for a fourth consecutive term. That vote was boycotted by the country’s main opposition parties, which accused her administration of rigging the polls.
“There is a growing demand within the society and in the community that they would cast their first vote after almost 15, 16 years. And that would be an (occasion) of big national celebration,” Amanullah said.
In February, more than 127.6 million Bangladeshis will be eligible to cast their vote. It will be Bangladesh’s 13th election since the country gained independence in 1971.
The long-awaited election process now begins with the filing of nominations from Dec. 12 to 29, which will then be reviewed over the following six days. The last date for withdrawing nominations is Jan. 20.
After the voting date was announced, Yunus pledged to “provide all necessary support” to encourage festivity, participation and fairness in the upcoming polls.
“After the historic mass uprising (last year), the country is now moving toward a new path,” he said in a statement. “This election and referendum will consolidate that trajectory, prioritize the will of the people and further strengthen the foundation of a new Bangladesh.”
For Malaika Nur, a 24-year-old Dhaka University student who took part in the 2024 protests, the elections are an opportunity for young people to formally take part in politics.
“Young people have been showing much interest in politics since July 2024. They showed us how the youth can reshape a country’s political condition. If they have a few seats in the parliament, it can be a game-changer for the future of politics in Bangladesh,” she said.
“I hope this election will be different from the last three elections held in the previous regime. There will be a festive mood, people will cast their valuable votes and will get to choose their representative … I hope the elected government will ensure safety and basic rights of every citizen, and will hold fair elections in the future and will not become another fascist.”
