ITALY: Amended immigration law proposed
01 November 2001
Northern League and National Alliance leaders Umberto Bossi and Gianfranco Fini, who respectively hold posts as Minister for Institutional Reforms and deputy Prime Minister in Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right government, have drafted a substantial amendment to the 1998 Turco-Napolitano immigration law. The 1998 law resulted in a massive increase in expulsion orders (54,135 in 1998, 72,392 in 1999 and 66,057 in 2000) and the holding of migrants in detention centres (CPT, Centri di permanenza temporanea - for persons due to be expelled requiring assistance or needing to have further identity checks carried out on them). Interior Ministry figures suggest a high rate of erroneous detention as 3,134 out of 9,768 foreigners detained in CPT's were expelled in 2000.
On 21 November 2001, the Senate's Constitutional Affairs Committee began its scrutiny of the amended law, aimed at sealing Italy's borders, limiting the legal entry of foreign workers to persons hand-picked in their countries of origin, extending the use of detention and making expulsions immediately enforceable. The decree is expected to be adopted without substantial changes in view of the government coalition's majority in both houses. A Committee "for the co-ordination and monitoring of the implementation of the amended law" is planned to increase political control over the management of immigration - it is to be headed by the prime minister, deputy prime minister or a minister appointed by the prime minister. An Interior Ministry working group of experts on immigration would also be set up.
"A law against immigrants"
The proposed law have been strongly criticised by migrant support groups who say that rather than being a law on immigration it is a "law against immigrants". It envisages restrictions on conditions for family reunion, the extension of the maximum period of detention from thirty to sixty days, and requires six years' legal residence rather than five, as is presently the case, to obtain a carta di soggiorno (a residence permit lasting for an indefinite period, making holders exempt from visa requirements and granting them the right to work, to vote in local elections and access to public services). Expelled immigrants would be forbidden from returning to Italy for ten years, rather than five, and if they do so they may be imprisoned for between six months and a year, before being expelled again.
Immediate implementation of expulsion orders by forced removal without judicial scrutiny (other than where there are outstanding court cases) is provided for. The only exception is for cases where the orders result from the expiry of an immigrant's residence permit, unless it is thought that the immigrant may not comply. Appeals would be heard by a court in the area where the expulsion was ordered, but expulsions would still take place as appeals can be filed from abroad using Italian diplomatic facilities. Detention will still be enforced if the migrant needs medical assistance or must be identified to obtain travel documents before being expelled. Expulsion would also become an alternative to detention for foreigners found guilty of minor offences and sentenced to prison terms of up to two years.
A disposable workforce?
Workers would be recruited abroad by Italian employers to fill a post (after it has been verified that no Italian workers are available) using new procedures. These involve the creation of permanent immigration counters in local police headquarters and the use of Italian consular offices abroad. Immigrants will receive the necessary documents to work, including visas, personal tax codes and authorisations to work in Italy from the consulates. Residence permits will be strictly linked to employment contracts through the "residence contract for subordinated work", which immigrants must sign at the immigration counter within eight days of entering Italy. Provisions to entitle immigrant workers to social security will result in the establ