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 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.

A special immigration court in Rome ruled that the 12 migrants, sent to the camp at Gjader not far from the Adriatic coast in northern Albania, should be brought back to Italy because they were from countries considered unsafe to be returned to.