Italians vote in referendums to ease citizenship requirements
Italians vote over two days starting Sunday on referendums that would make it easier for children born in Italy to foreigners to obtain citizenship, and on providing more job protections. But apparent low public awareness risks rendering the vote invalid if turnout is not high enough. FRANCE 24's Seema Gupta reports.
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France 24
9 hours ago
- France 24
Italians vote in referendums to ease citizenship requirements
Italians vote over two days starting Sunday on referendums that would make it easier for children born in Italy to foreigners to obtain citizenship, and on providing more job protections. But apparent low public awareness risks rendering the vote invalid if turnout is not high enough. FRANCE 24's Seema Gupta reports.
LeMonde
10 hours ago
- LeMonde
Italy holds referendum on easing citizenship requirements
Italians vote on Sunday, June 8 and Monday, June 9 in a referendum on easing citizenship rules and strengthening labor laws, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government opposing both changes and urging people to abstain. A non-EU adult resident without marriage or blood ties to Italy must currently live in the country for 10 years before they can apply for citizenship – a process which can then take years. The referendum proposal, triggered by a grassroots campaign led by NGOs, would cut this to five years, putting Italy in line with Germany and France. Campaigners say around 2.5 million people could benefit from the reform, which is being backed by the center-left Democratic Party. Meloni, whose far-right Brothers of Italy party has prioritised cutting illegal immigration even while increasing the number of legal work visas for migrants, is strongly against it. She said Thursday that the current system "is an excellent law, among the most open, in the sense that we have for years been among the European nations that grant the highest number of citizenships each year." More than 213,500 people acquired Italian citizenship in 2023, double the number in 2020 and one fifth of the European Union total, according to EU statistics. More than 90 percent were from outside the bloc, mostly from Albania and Morocco, as well as Argentina and Brazil – two countries with large Italian immigrant communities. Ministers agreed in March to restrict the rights to citizenship of those with blood ties to Italy from four to two generations. Meloni and her coalition partners have encouraged voters to boycott the referendum, which will only be valid if 50 percent of eligible voters plus one participate. Even if it passes, the reform will not affect the migration law many consider the most unfair, that children born in Italy to foreign parents cannot request nationality until they reach 18. Prominent rapper Ghali, who was born in Milan to Tunisian parents, has been an outspoken advocate changing the law for children, but nevertheless urged fans to back Sunday's vote as a step in the right direction. "With a 'Yes' we ask that five years of life here are enough, not 10, to be part of this country," he wrote on Instagram. Under Italy's constitution, a referendum can be triggered by a petition signed by at least 500,000 voters. This week's ballot includes one question on citizenship and four others on increasing protections for workers who are dismissed, in precarious situations or involved in workplace accidents.
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Shootings at Gaza aid distribution sites: Situation an ‘impasse', ‘anarchy'
At least dozens of Palestinians were killed near aid distribution sites in Gaza since the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operating in the enclave late last month. 'We don't know who's exactly doing the shooting right now, it could be Hamas, it could be one of these Islamist militias we've recently found out Israel is backing with arms, or it could be the Israeli army', FRANCE 24's Noga Tarnopolsky said, adding that the situation is 'some sort of impasse and anarchy, and people who need the aid are just not getting it'.
