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.

An Italian navy ship docked at the Albanian port of Shengjin to bring the first group of 16 migrants intercepted in international waters.

Italy takes back the first group of migrants sent to Albania for processing:: Shengjin, Albania ::The migrants were taken to Albania earlier this week by an Italian navy ship. They originally numbered 16,