Less than 24 hours after the Italian judges ruled Friday against the detention of the first migrants sent for processing in Albania, dealing a major blow to a flagship policy of Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government the ship to turn back to Italy the first 12 migrants arrived in the Port of Shengjin.

The navy is expected to take the 12 migrants and turn them back to Italy after the court decision as Rome has repeatedly boasted that multiple EU countries are interested in the scheme as a way of processing asylum requests in countries outside the bloc, and Brussels has been watching closely.

The judges ruled on the detention of a dozen men from Bangladesh and Egypt picked up in the Mediterranean and transferred by an Italian naval vessel on Monday.

They arrived at one of two Italian-run migrant centres in Albania on Wednesday.

The court said a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice meant the men do not meet the criteria for detention in Albania, and will instead have to be brought to Italy.