Proponents of the long-awaited 'ius
soli' ('law of the soil' in Latin) bill granting Italian
citizenship to foreign babies born on Italian soil and children
of immigrants who have spent five years in the Italian school
system defended the provisions from criticism as they hit the
floor of the Senate on Thursday, nearly two years after being
approved by the Lower House.
"It is not just a matter of granting citizenship to children
born in Italy, but also to those who are in fact already Italian
because they have lived and studied in our country," Senator
Pina Maturani of the ruling Democratic Party (PD) said.
"It is therefore a duty to approve this law as quickly as
possible," she added, condemning protests by opposition parties
that allegedly exploited a decision to bring forward the debate
for political ends.
Minister for Relations with Parliament Anna Finocchiaro of
the PD likewise condemned the protests staged by the
anti-immigrant Northern League on Thursday, describing them as
"indecent".
"How sad to put the search for consensus before civility,"
she wrote on Twitter.
Senator Maurizio Gasparri of centre-right Forza Italia took
the opposite stance, describing the bill as "unacceptable".
He accused the PD and Premier Paolo Gentiloni of "caring more
about the foreigners who enter Italy illegally than about our
own people".
The law would only encourage an "invasion" of foreigners and
the "Islamisation" of Italy, Gasparri said.
Party colleague and former equal opportunities minister Mara
Carfagna instead took issue with the priority given to the ius
soli bill in the absence of an effective model of integration
for new immigrants to Italy.
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