Italy on Friday transferred 40 migrants whose asylum applications had failed to Italian-run detention centers in Albania.

An Italian navy ship carrying the migrants left from Brindisi in southeast Italy and arrived in the Albanian port of Shengjin on Friday afternoon.

The migrants, who are all men, are due to remain in a camp in Albania until they are deported.

It is unclear how long they will remain in Albania. Under Italian law, failed asylum seekers can be held for a maximum of 18 months awaiting deportation.

Migrant deterrent scheme shelved amid legal challenges

It is the first time a European Union member state has sent migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected to a non-EU nation or to a country that they had not passed through on their journey.

The Italian government, led by the far-right Giorgia Meloni, built the camps as part of a scheme to deter irregular migrants picked up in the Mediterranean from traveling to Italy.

But those plans have faced opposition in Italian courts, forcing Meloni to shelve the controversial scheme.

Last month, Meloni's right-wing governing coalition decided to instead use the camps in Albania to process asylum applications that have already been turned down.

Irregular migrants would normally be held in detention centers on Italian soil before being deported.

Italy's plans comply with EU draft law

The Italian government has not abandoned hopes of enacting its "Albania model," as the European Court of Justice is actively reviewing the case.

Meloni's scheme, while controversial, complies with a European Commission proposal which, if passed, would allow member states to open similar "return hubs" to process rejected asylum seekers abroad.

Rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, have condemned the EU's proposal as "cruel and unrealistic."

Edited by: Wesley Dockery