Italy holds referendum on easing citizenship rules

Al Jazeera

4 days ago

Italians are voting in referendums on easing citizenship rules and strengthening labour protections amid concerns that low turnout may deem the poll invalid.
Voting began on Sunday and will continue through Monday.
The citizenship question on the ballot paper asks Italians if they back reducing the period of residence required to apply for Italian citizenship by naturalisation to five years.
A resident from a non-European Union country, without marriage or blood ties to Italy, must currently live in the country for 10 years before they can apply for citizenship, a process that can then take years.
Supporters say the reform could affect about 2.5 million foreign nationals living in the country and would bring Italy's citizenship law in line with many other European nations, including Germany and France.
The measures were proposed by Italy's main union and left-wing opposition parties.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said she would show up at the polls but not cast a ballot. The left has criticised the action as antidemocratic, since it may hinder efforts to reach the necessary turnout threshold of 50 percent plus one of eligible voters to make the vote valid.
Meloni, whose far-right Brothers of Italy party has prioritised cutting undocumented immigration even while increasing the number of work visas for migrants, is strongly against it.
She said on 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 EU total, according to statistics.
More than 90 percent were from outside the EU, mostly from Albania and Morocco, as well as Argentina and Brazil – two countries with large Italian immigrant communities.
Even if the proposed reform passes, it 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.
Italian singer Ghali, who was born in Milan to Tunisian parents and has been an outspoken advocate for changing the law for children, urged his fans to back the proposal as a step in the right direction.
'I was born here, I always lived here, but I only received citizenship at the age of 18,' Ghali said on Instagram. 'With a 'Yes' we ask that five years of life here are enough, not 10, to be part of this country'.
Michelle Ngonmo, a cultural entrepreneur and advocate for diversity in the fashion industry, also urged a 'yes' vote.
'This referendum is really about dignity and the right to belong, which is key for many people who were born here and spent most of their adult life contributing to Italian society. For them, a lack of citizenship is like an invisible wall,' said Ngonmo, who has lived most of her life in Italy after moving as a child from Cameroon.
'You are good enough to work and pay taxes, but not to be fully recognised as Italian. This becomes a handicap for young generations, particularly in the creative field, creating frustration, exclusion and a big waste of potential,' she told the Associated Press news agency.
The other four measures on the ballot deal with the labour law, including better protections against dismissal, higher severance payments, the conversion of fixed-term contracts into permanent ones and liability in cases of workplace accidents.
Opinion polls published in mid-May showed that only 46 percent of Italians were aware of the issues driving the referendums. Turnout projections were even weaker, at about 35 percent of more than 51 million voters, well below the required quorum.
Many of the 78 referendums held in Italy in the past have failed due to low turnout.
Polling stations opened on Sunday at 7am local time (05:00 GMT), with results expected after polls close on Monday at 3pm (13:00 GMT).