Italy citizenship referendum polarises country

Sonny Olumati was born in Rome and lived in Italy all his life, but the country he calls in him does not recognize him as his.

For Italy, Sonny is Nigerian, like his passport, and the 39 -year -old man is welcome only as long as his last residence permit.

“I was born here. I will live here. I will die here,” said the dancer and activist in what he calls “Macaroni” Italian-English under the palm trees of a scouring Roman park.

“But not having citizenship is like … being rejected from your country. And I don’t think it is a feeling that we should have”.

This is why Sonny and others campaigned for a “yes” vote during a national referendum on Sunday and Monday which has half the time required to ask for Italian citizenship.

Cutting the wait from 10 years to five would cause this country in accordance with most others in Europe.

Giorgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister, announced that she would boycott the vote, declaring the law on citizenship already “excellent” and “very open”.

Other parties who were allied to him call on the Italians to go to the beach instead of the polling station.

Sonny will not participate either. Without a citizenship, he has no right to vote.

The question of which becomes Italian is sensitive.

A large number of migrants and refugees arrive in the country each year helped across the Mediterranean from North Africa by smuggling gangs.

Meloni’s populist government has made a big problem on reducing the number of arrivals.

But this referendum is aimed at those who have legally traveled to work in a country with a fast and aging population.

The objective is limited: to accelerate the process to obtain citizenship, not facilitate strict criteria.

“Knowledge of the Italian language, without criminal accusations, continuous residence and this – all the various requirements remain the same,” explains Carla Taibi of the Liberal Europe party, one of the many donors of the referendum.

The reform would affect long -term foreign residents already employed in Italy: people on the production lines of the North factory to those who take care of retirees from the torthiles in Rome.

Their children under the age of 18 would also be naturalized.

Up to 1.4 million people could immediately qualify for citizenship, with certain estimates that are more.

“These people live in Italy, study and work and contribute. It is a question of changing their perception so that they are no longer foreigners – but Italian,” says Taibi.

The reform would also have practical implications.

As a non-Italian, Sonny cannot apply for employment from the public sector and even had trouble obtaining a driving license.

When he was reserved for the successful reality TV show, Fame Island last year, he ended up arriving two weeks late on the set in Honduras because he had so many problems get the right documents.

For a long time, Meloni completely ignored the referendum.

The Italian public media, led by a close ally of Meloni, also paid particular attention to the vote.

There is no substantial “without” campaign, which makes it difficult to have a balanced debate.

But the real reason seems strategic: for a referendum to be valid, more than half of all voters must prove to be.

“They do not want to raise awareness of the importance of the referendum,” said Professor Roberto D’Ass Alimonte from Luis University in Rome. “It is rational, to ensure that the 50% threshold will not be reached.”

The Prime Minister finally announced that she would show up at a polling station “to show respect for the ballot boxes” – but would refuse to vote.

“When you do not agree, you also have the opportunity to abstain,” Meloni told a television cat this week, after criticism accused her of lacking democracy.

The Italian citizenship system was “excellent”, she argued, already granting citizenship to more foreign nationals than most European countries: 217,000 last year, according to the National Statistics Agency, Istat.

But around 30,000 of them were Argentines with an Italian ancestry on the other side of the world, it is unlikely that the visit.

Meanwhile, the partner of the Meloni coalition, Roberto Vannacci of the far -right League, accused those who referred to the “sale of our citizenship and the erasure of our identity”.

I ask Sonny why he thinks that his own demand for citizenship has taken more than two decades.

“It’s racism,” he replied immediately.

At one point, his file was completely lost, and he was told that his case was “pending”.

“We have ministers who speak of white supremacy – racial replacement of Italy,” recalls the activist in 2023 of the Minister of Agriculture of the own party of Meloni.

“They don’t want black immigration and we know it. I was born here 39 years ago, so I know what I say.”

This is an accusation that the Prime Minister has denied several times.

Insaf Dimassi defines itself as “Italian without citizenship”.

“Italy allowed me to grow and become the person I am today, so not to be considered a citizen is extremely painful and frustrating,” she explains from the city of northern Bologna where she studies for a doctorate.

Insaf’s father went to Italy to work when she was a baby, and her mother then joined her. His parents finally obtained Italian citizenship 20 days after the ISAF was 18 years old.

Insaf has chosen to study instead.

“I arrived at nine months here, and maybe 33 or 34 – if everything is going well – I can finally be Italian citizen,” she said, exasperated.

She remembers exactly the meaning of her “outsider” status struck the house: it was when asked to stand in the elections alongside a candidate for the mayor in her hometown.

When she shared the news with her parents, full of excitement, they had to remind her that she was not Italian and was not eligible.

“They say that it is a question of meritocracy to be a citizen, that you must win it. But more than being myself, what should I demonstrate?” Insaf wants to know.

“Not being allowed to vote or be represented is invisible.”

On the eve of the referendum, the students of Rome wrote a call to the ballot boxes on the cobblestones of a city square.

“Vote” yes “the 8 and 9th [of June]”They stated giant cardboard letters.

With a boycott of the government and such advertising, the chances of reaching the 50% participation threshold seem slim.

But Sonny maintains that this vote is only the beginning.

“Even if they vote” no “, we will stay here – and think about the next step,” he said. “We have to start talking about the place of our community in this country.”

Additional report by Giulia Tommasi