With the adoption of Decree-Law 37/2025, later converted into Law 75/2025, the Italian government introduced the possibility of transferring to the Gjadër repatriation centre in Albania individuals subject to an expulsion order and already detained in Italian repatriation centres. ASGI raises serious concerns about the compatibility of this measure with European Union law, particularly in light of returns carried out directly from Albania to Egypt on 9 May 2025. ASGI has developed a legal analysis of recent developments to highlight the ways in which the provisions conflict with Italian and EU law, specifically the Return Directive.
The European Commission initially referred only to the applicability of national legislation without commenting on its compatibility with the Return Directive. This interpretation—extending to persons already present on Italian territory (and thus clearly subject to Directive 2008/115/EC) the same logic applied to those rescued in international waters—is inconsistent and legally unsustainable.
In June 2025, the Italian Court of Cassation acknowledged the complexity of the issue and referred a preliminary question to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the compatibility of the provisions of Decree-Law 14/2024 (as amended by Decree-Law 37/2025) with Directives 2008/115/EC (Return Directive) and 2013/32/EU (Asylum Procedures Directive). The Court clarified that equating the Albanian areas with Italian territory is a legal fiction, since Italy does not exercise full sovereignty there, and that the transfer cannot be considered a “return” within the meaning of EU law.
In this legal analysis, addressed primarily to the European Commission, ASGI highlights the possible incompatibilities with EU law, based also on findings from the monitoring conducted by the Asylum and Immigration Table (TAI):
- Lack of necessity and proportionality of coercive measures: the extraterritorial transfer and detention are not proportionate to the objective of return, as they result in more punitive conditions without improving the effectiveness of the process.
- Inadequate detention conditions and violations of the right to health: access to the Italian national health system is denied, and the Albanian health system is inadequate, with serious consequences for the physical and mental health of detainees, as evidenced by incidents of self-harm and suicide attempts.
- Deficiencies in the right to defence: distance and the predominance of remote hearings severely limit effective access to legal assistance and contact with protection bodies, placing migrants at a disadvantage compared to those held in Italian CPRs.
- Risk of violation of the non-refoulement principle: the absence of a formal transfer decision prevents any prior assessment of the risk of refoulement, exposing migrants to potential violations of fundamental rights, including by Albanian authorities during repatriation operations outside Italian control.
- Incompatibility of direct returns from Albania: returns carried out from Tirana airport, outside the jurisdiction of Italian authorities, make it impossible to guarantee compliance with the standards of the Return Directive, including the assessment of the risk of refoulement and the proportionality of the use of force.
Finally, it should be stressed that the current Italian model diverges significantly from the EU proposals on so-called “return hubs,” which provide for formal return decisions to third countries and therefore follow a different—albeit still problematic—approach.
ASGI urges the European Commission to reassess its position and calls on the Italian government to immediately suspend transfers to Albania pending the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
