Italian government faces a split over citizenship reform debate

A proposal to grant Italian citizenship to foreign nationals who complete 10 years of education has the coalition government in Rome divided.

Transcript

00:00The issue of how to grant citizenship to immigrants' children born in Italy has long been at the

00:07center of the political debate.

00:09Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and leader of Forza Italia, Antonio Tajani, has recently

00:12demanded a review of the current law, which makes the process hard to achieve.

00:17He has backed the introduction of the so-called Jus Scolae and the possibility to grant citizenship

00:23to those who complete 10 years of compulsory education in Italy.

00:27While remaining a close ally of Meloni, Forza Italia's move has not been welcomed by the

00:31party's coalition partners.

00:33Amin was born in Somalia and arrived in Italy when he was 4 years old.

00:37After living and studying in the country for over 30 years, he's not considered an Italian

00:42citizen.

00:43Today, he's one of the promoters of the reform proposal.

00:57It's as if they cut your leg off, I don't know how to put it, you're limited in everything.

01:08Being Italian is something that you feel inside and you're proud of, and I did karate for

01:20years, it was a karate promise, but I couldn't participate at the national level like my

01:26companions.

01:26For years, Save the Children has carried out groundwork to help integrate children born

01:31in Italy to foreign parents.

01:33In Italy, we have an old and outdated law, which is more than 30 years old, which was

01:39designed for a country of emigrants.

01:41This is a law that protects, above all, the children and grandchildren of many Italians

01:47who went to live abroad for work.

01:50The country has changed a lot in recent years, it's changed in the facts, it's changed in

01:56schools, it's changed in communities, we need the law to be updated.

02:00Salvini's League Party is against the reform.

02:03It's written in the centre-right's programme, it's written in the government's agenda, two

02:07out of three parties say and remind Forza Italia that this wasn't a shared issue.

02:14We can talk about it, we've been talking about it for a month, we've been talking about it

02:19since this summer, but I doubt that it will be an issue that will be included in the parliamentary

02:24agenda.

02:25From the opposition forces?

02:26Certainly.

02:27I don't think from the parties that make up the majority of this government, unless someone

02:32doesn't want to put themselves out of the electoral programme.

02:35That's why the Italians voted for it.

02:37Antonio Tagliani and his party are determined to take the proposal to parliament.

02:41Giorgia Orlandi for Euronews in Rome.