Immigrant children should get citizenship: Italian president
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said today that refusing Italian citizenship to children born to immigrants in Italy was "crazy" and urged parliament to change the law to revitalise an ageing country.
"I hope that parliament will address the question of nationality for children born in Italy to immigrant parents. To refuse it is crazy, absurd. All the more so because the children want it," Napolitano said.
"Societies need new energy, especially ours, which is ageing and fossilised," he added in a speech at his residence in Rome.
The 86-year-old head of state, who played a key role in Italy's recent change of prime minister and new cabinet, called on members of parliament to alter the law on rights to citizenship, currently based on blood ties.
"The conditions for dialogue are better," he said, following the replacement of billionaire prime minister Silvio Berlusconi with technocratic Mario Monti.
His appeal was welcomed by several political parties as well as the Save The Children charity, but was rejected by the anti-immigration Northern League party, Berlusconi's ex-coalition partner.
"President Napolitano should not impose laws which go against our age-old culture, revolutionising our laws," said Mario Borghezio, a Member of the European Parliament from the Northern League.
Over 700,000 children of immigrants are schooled in Italy, of which 500,000 were born in the country, according to press reports.
"Children of immigrants pay their taxes, go to school, speak Italian" but "are neither Italian nor immigrants. It's an embarrassment," said the head of the left-wing Democratic Party, Luigi Bersani.
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Charles Sammut
Nov 23rd 2011, 08:55
Hardly had Berlusconi resigned than Napolitano started pushing for the destruction of the Italian nation.
President Napolitano should have stuck to theatre and comedy or at most regurgitating the writings of Karl Marx. This failed Communist should never have become president of Italy, a country that has rejected Communism. If his "crazy" proposal is adopted, it will bring about a mass invasion of Europe by illegal immigrants.
With Italy's record unemployment, how can immigration benefit the nation? What will immigrants do? Even Italian youths cannot find work, never mind third world immigrants. This situation was brought about by decades of squalid socialism that have made idleness and irresponsibility more attractive and rewarding than work.
And Napolitano wants more immigrants!
mario micallef
Nov 23rd 2011, 08:52
What happened to the documented theory of solidarity via ethnicity and language? What happened to the bond linking a person to his ethnic compatriots? I actually studied these at university level, so it's no fool's - or racist's dream. This sounds like another politician trying to be politically correct or pushing his own hidden agenda. Anymore of his kind and in twenty years time, Europe will be unrecognisable and the real Europeans will have no rights left.
Daniel Dimech
Nov 23rd 2011, 06:52
haha ha jqeduna fil frisk
carlos ellul
Nov 22nd 2011, 22:06
Multiculturalism has failed on many fronts and it had been proven time and time again that people will retain their traditions and culture (whether its compatible to Europe's or not) whether they are at their homeland or abroad. Such move will further encourage illegal immigration who will swarm Italy since having a kid there will mean that they will remain in the country forever. Considering Napolitano's communist past maybe that's his plan in the first place.
Michael Borg
Nov 22nd 2011, 21:22
ohh so in italy no and in malta yes !!! no wonder they come by the 1000 s
Zachary Stewart
Nov 22nd 2011, 20:53
I agree with President Napolitano. In the 21st Century, nations can no longer be united on the vague notion of "blood ties." We fought that war in the 1940s and Democratic Pluralism won. It is time that nations are united by something stronger. Birthright citizenship is the right way to go.