Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni faced fierce criticism from the political opposition on Saturday after Italian judges struck down her plan to process asylum-seekers in Albania for the third time, Politico reported.

A coast guard vessel was returning 43 African and South Asian migrants from a detention center in Gjadër, Albania, to the Italian port of Bari after the Rome Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that individuals whose asylum claims have been rejected cannot be held abroad.

“Giorgia Meloni should resign,” Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein told Italian media, citing the project’s estimated €1 billion cost.

“The centers in Albania do not and will not work. They are a clamorous failure,” she added.

Riccardo Magi of the liberal More Europe party called the ruling “confirmation that the detention centers in Albania operate in total illegality” and “a tombstone for the migration policies” of Meloni’s government.

The court found that migrants from potentially unsafe countries cannot be processed under the fast-track deportation program. It marked the third such ruling in a year, following decisions in October and November that blocked the detention of migrants in Albania.

Each case has been referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which is set to rule on the matter on Feb. 25.

In response, Meloni’s government in December reassigned jurisdiction over the issue from immigration judges in Rome, who had opposed the transfers, to the appeals court. In October, it also expanded a list of “safe” repatriation countries, adding Bangladesh and Egypt.

Since its launch on Oct. 11, the Italy-Albania agreement has won praise from European leaders, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calling it “an innovative solution.” But the plan has also drawn sharp criticism from opposition lawmakers, human rights groups, and legal experts.

“The feeling is that the Italian government considers itself above the law,” said Francesca D’Antuono of Volt Europe, who visited the Gjadër center last year.

“They make no distinction between their political mandate and respect for the institutional architecture that underpins our democracy,” she said.

“The European court in Luxembourg will rule on Feb. 25. We hope it will succeed in stemming the authoritarian turn that far-right governments in Europe are implementing.”