FM on on the new legislation by the Italian Government

Statement by Rohitha Bogollagama, Minister of Foreign Affairs At The Parliament on 6 August 2009 on the new legislation by the Italian Government providing for regularization of overstayers in Italy

By Rohitha Bogollagama

(August 06, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) I take the floor to inform the House that the President of the Republic of Italy on 3rd August 2009 having signed the “Anti – Crisis Bill” together with the corrective amendments, which will come into effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette, which will be by the end of August, will regularize illegal expatriate workers, coming under the categories of caregivers and domestic collaborators. This law will have a noteworthy impact on Sri Lankans who have over-stayed in Italy and holding the jobs coming under the categories to which the law applies. The Italian Government decided that the possibility of regularization would not be extended to other categories of irregular workers.

As you are aware, there is a large number of Sri Lankan expatriate workers in Italy, and they form an important component of the foreign expatriate workers’ community in that country. They have contributed significantly to the Sri Lankan economy and also enhanced people to people contact between the two countries, particularly in the recent years. This development will augur well for Sri Lanka’s labour relations with Italy, a friendly country with which we have maintained a close, time-tested, and historic relations. This achievement is a landmark in President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s people centered foreign policy through extensive engagement in the international community.

According to this legislation, between 4,000 to 40,000 Sri Lankans living in Italy have the possibility of applying for a stay permit. There is a large number of Sri Lankans working as domestic aides and caregivers in Italian households. It is understood that they are well sought after having earned the confidence of their Italian employers. Therefore, the Sri Lankan domestic workers have been extensively recruited to Italian households, and would stand to benefit from this measure.

The Italian Minister of the Interior, Roberto Maroni, and the Minister of Welfare, Maurizio Sacconi, originally presented a Bill to the Parliament which decreed that all foreigners who were illegally staying in Italy were committing a criminal offence. This permitted the authorities to detain such overstayers for a long period of time, in order to assess their identity followed by imprisonment and deportation.

The Sri Lankan Embassy in Rome initially made representations to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressing concern with regard to certain provisions of the Bill. This was on the basis of their possible incompatibility with the European Constitution.

When the bill was submitted to the Italian President, His Excellency Giorgio Napolitano, for his assent, due to reservations, it was sent back to the upper and lower houses, for reconsideration. There had been opposition on this Bill from some political parties, on the grounds that it would have negative repercussions on the Italian economy, as the Government would be required to find alternative methods of caring for the elderly and the disabled.

Culminating from the objections raised by the diplomatic Missions and political parties, and considering the impact on the aged in Italy, the Italian Government amended the original Bill to regularize the stay of thousands of domestic aides or caregivers from non-EU countries, in Italy. The procedure for this purpose entails the application to be tendered to the Ministry of the Interior between 1st and 30th September 2009. The amendment also allows one stay permit per family unit, or two stay permits for domestic aides or caregivers assisting individuals with serious disabilities or suffering from grave illnesses. In order to obtain a stay permit, the employer must prove that the domestic aide or caregiver has been employed before April 2009.

As a significant number of Sri Lankan domestic workers and caregivers will be in a position to apply for a stay permit to regularize their stay in Italy, it is expected that between 4,000 to 40,000 applications for new passports will be received by the Sri Lanka Embassy in Rome. To facilitate the applicants the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested that the Embassy in Rome remains open until 10.00 p.m. on working days.

The evolution of the “Anti – Crisis Bill” is a singular achievement for some of the Asian countries, which on their own lobbied the Italian authorities, the Catholic Church and the major Italian Trade Unions, who also supported the initiative of presenting the amendment. The Asian representations that spearheaded this initiative were those of Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Pakistan and Bangladesh and wish to place on record the Sri Lanka government’s appreciation for the tireless efforts of Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Italy and the Embassy staff in achieving this amnesty.

-Sri Lanka Guardian