ROME (Reuters) - A Rome court on Friday ordered a group of migrants detained in camps built in Albania to be transferred to Italy, sources said, dealing a fresh blow to a plan by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to curb irregular sea arrivals.

The Italian government has suffered another legal defeat over its efforts to process asylum applications by migrants arriving via the Mediterranean Sea in an offshore facility in Albania. An appeals court in Rome ruled that 43 men taken to two facilities in Albania must be released and brought back to Italy,

An Italian appeals court has refused to approve the speedy expulsion of 43 asylum seekers detained in Albania under a controversial migration deal to move the proceedings beyond European Union borders.

MILAN (AP) — Italian authorities on Thursday rejected the asylum requests of 43 asylum-seekers transferred to Albania in a speedy procedure that a non-governmental delegation observing the process said illegally deprived them of legal assistance.

This marks the third time judges have ordered the transfer of migrants to Italy since the first group was taken to Albania in October last year.

An Italian appeals court on Friday refused to approve the speedy expulsion of 43 asylum seekers detained in Albania under a controversial migration deal to move the proceedings beyond the European Union's borders.