Giorgia Meloni suffers blow as offshore camp migrants must be returned to Italy

The scheme, estimated to cost £557 million over five years, aimed to handle up to 36,000 migrants annually.

It was being closely watched by other European countries, including Britain, as a potential model for addressing Europe's illegal migration crisis.

The first group of 16 Egyptian and Bangladeshi men arrived at facilities in northern Albania on Wednesday.

However, the court's decision on Friday has thrown the entire plan into doubt.

The court ruled that the migrants cannot be sent back to Bangladesh and Egypt, deeming them unsafe countries.

Judges ordered that 12 migrants should be taken to Italy, whilst four others had already been spared repatriation due to being minors or in a vulnerable physical state.

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The ruling aligns with a recent European Court of Justice decision limiting the definition of safe countries.

The ECJ stated that countries like Egypt and Bangladesh cannot be declared safe unless their entire territory is free of dangers.

Critics had already questioned the scheme's efficiency, with opposition MPs estimating the cost of transporting the initial 16 migrants at £18,000 per person.

Matteo Villa, a senior researcher, called the plan "a flop" and "destined to be a disaster".

The ruling has been met with fury by Meloni's hard-Right party, Brothers of Italy.

The party wrote on X: "Absurd! The court does not validate the detention of migrants in Albania."

They accused "politicised judges" of wanting to "abolish Italy's borders", vowing: "We will not let them."

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the government would appeal against the court's ruling.

He stated: "We will move forward with the objective to affirm our position through the relevant institutional channels, through the judicial mechanism."

Ignazio La Russa, a senior member of Brothers of Italy, expressed astonishment at the court's decision.

Opposition leader Elly Schlein called on the prime minister to "dismantle everything and apologise to the Italians".

The setback comes as Meloni's influence in the EU is growing, with many European countries echoing her calls for tougher migration policies.

The Albania model has been cited as inspiration for potential EU offshore deportation camps for failed asylum seekers. This concept was discussed at a recent European Council summit, despite previously being ruled out by Brussels as "neither feasible or desirable".

Meloni had touted the Albania model as a "new, courageous, unprecedented path" to increase migrant repatriation.

She claimed earlier this week that while several European countries had shown interest in the model, it was being undermined by opposition attacks.