THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Netherlands’ top administrative court ruled Wednesday that immigration authorities can’t send migrants back to Italy, because they face possible human rights violations there — a decision that will likely put further pressure on the strained Dutch asylum system.
The ruling came in cases brought by two migrants, a Nigerian and a man who claims to be from Eritrea. Both entered Europe via Italy. The Nigerian applied for asylum three times in Italy before applying in the Netherlands, and the other man arrived in Italy but didn’t seek asylum there, according to the Council of State.
Successive Italian governments have pressed their European Union partners for years, largely in vain, to take in many of the hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers who reach Italy’s Mediterranean shores. Most risk the dangerous, expensive sea voyage in hopes of finding…