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Professor Nathalie Tocci, director of Italy's Institute of International Affairs, said there were likely to be more legal challenges to the scheme due to a wider political conflict between the Meloni government and judges over the role of the judiciary in Italy.
Italy has resumed sending illegal immigrants to processing centers in Albania, as Giorgia Meloni, the country's prime minister, tries to bypass the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Ms Meloni's government has built two reception centres in Albania, the first such example of a European Union nation directing migrants to a non-EU country, but they have remained empty since November after facing court opposition.
However, changes to the law in Italy have since attempted to overturn the ECJ after its verdict initially halted the deportations.
"Following examinations of the condition of the persons caught in territorial waters, 49 foreign nationals have boarded the Cassiopea to be transferred to Albanian centers where reception, detention and assessment procedures for individual cases will begin," the Italian government said in a statement.
The government added that it was deporting another 53 men – “those who do not have the right to stay in the EU” – by accelerating their deportation to Albania.
Ms. Meloni has been praised for reducing the flow of migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Italy, using agreements with Tunisia and Libya and punishing NGOs that assist stranded migrant boats.
On Sunday she began a tour of the Persian Gulf, where her office said she would discuss cooperation with Bahrain on tackling illegal migration.
Ms. Meloni met with Mohammed bin Salman during her trip to the Persian Gulf.
Ms. Meloni signed an agreement with Edi Rama, her Albanian counterpart, in November 2023 to open two Italian-run centers across the Adriatic in Albania, to process some migrants rescued by Italian authorities in the Mediterranean Sea.
Italy, like many other countries, has created a list of so-called safe countries from which asylum seekers can fast-track their applications. Only men from these safe countries are eligible to be sent to Albanian centers.
The centers were put into operation in October. But judges blocked the first transfer of migrants, citing an ECJ ruling that states EU states can only designate entire countries as safe, not parts of them. Italy's list included several countries with unsafe areas.
In response, Ms. Meloni's government passed a law limiting its safe list to 19 countries, out of 22, insisting that all parts of those states were safe.
The judges then ruled against a second group of transferred migrants – seven men from Egypt and Bangladesh – saying they sought clarification from the ECJ.
An ECJ hearing has been provisionally scheduled for February, according to Italian media.
Meanwhile, the Italian government hopes that the changes to the law will link the magistrates' decision to government decrees and not to international law.
After processing at the Albanian port of Shëngjin, the migrants are expected to be transferred to the migrant detention center in Gjadra.
Immigrants and asylum seekers sent to Albania must all be adult males from countries considered safe and in good mental and physical health.
"More about propaganda than reality"
Italy's agreement with Albania aims to process and repatriate around 3,000 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean each month.
Professor Nathalie Tocci, director of Italy's Institute of International Affairs, said there were likely to be more legal challenges to the scheme due to a wider political conflict between the Meloni government and judges over the role of the judiciary in Italy.
She told The Telegraph that the scheme was also a way for the prime minister to demonstrate her tough stance on immigration and was a model for other right-wing governments across Europe. “She wants to show that she is doing something about it,” said Prof Tocci, adding “migration policy is about propaganda and not reality.”
Sir Keir Starmer is one of several leaders who have expressed "interest" in learning about Italy's scheme to send migrants rescued at sea to Albania for processing.
The European Commission and some European leaders consider the scheme as a possible model for managing migrants outside EU territory.
The ECJ ruled in October that migrants can only be repatriated if their countries of origin are considered safe across their entire territory and for all categories of people, from LGBTQ minorities to political opponents. Such strict criteria appear to exclude countries such as Egypt, Bangladesh and Tunisia. / Adapted from The Telegraph /
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