An Italian coastguard vessel collected migrants held in reception centres in Albania on Saturday to transfer them to Italy, after a court ruling dealt a blow to Rome's plans to house migrants picked up at sea outside the EU.

An Italian navy ship docked at the Albanian port of Shengjin to bring the first group of 16 migrants intercepted in international waters.

An Italian navy vessel returned 12 migrants to Italy from an Albanian centre on Saturday, following a court decision that questioned the Italian government's strategy to transfer migrant processing to the Balkan nation.

An Italian ship carrying a first group of migrants to be processed in Albania arrived in the port of Shengjin on Wednesday morning, setting in motion a controversial plan to process thousands of asylum seekers abroad.

An Italian court has dealt a major blow to Giorgia Meloni’s multi-million euro plan to send migrants to an offshore camp in Albania by ruling that they cannot remain there and must all be brought back to Italy.

An Italian navy ship has taken back to Italy the first 12 migrants from newly opened asylum processing centers in Albania following a court decision in Rome

An Italian coastguard vessel collected migrants that were held in reception centres in Albania and transferred them to Italy on Saturday, after a court ruling dealt a blow to Rome's plans to house migrants picked up at sea outside the EU.

Human rights groups and some analysts call Italy's opening this week of migrant processing centers in Albania controversial and illegal. The Italian government is now appealing a court ruling against its flagship project to move migrant facilities offshore.

Italy takes back the first group of migrants sent to Albania for processing:: Shengjin, Albania ::The migrants were taken to Albania earlier this week by an Italian navy ship. They originally numbered 16,