Rome judges asked Cassation about safe countries

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 22 - The judges of the Rome court's immigration unit who nixed the detention of the first group of migrants held at a newly opened Italian-run hosting and repatriation centre in Albania had appealed over a month ago to the supreme Cassation Court over the possibility of deciding autonomously whether to validate the detention of migrants or according to a list of safe countries drafted annually by the foreign ministry.
    The request, first reported on Tuesday by Rome daily newspaper Il Messaggero, was filed before an October 4 ruling by the European Court of Justice defining how a country can be deemed safe for repatriation informed the Rome judges' ruling on Friday.
    In their ruling, the Rome magistrates said the countries of provenance of the 12 migrants held in Albania - Bangladesh and Egypt - could not be designated "safe".
    The Cassation Court is expected to rule on the issue on December 4. (ANSA).