'No prejudice against expanding migrant quota' - minister

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 28 - Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said on Tuesday the government "has no prejudice against" extending the number of admissions allowed under its quota system for non EU workers if necessary, after Monday's "click day" for submitting applications was massively overbooked.
    The government "supports a regular entry procedure into Italy" also "according to the needs of our economy", said Piantedosi at a retailers' association Confcommercio event.
    The quota of 82,705 entries in 2023 was been established "in discussion with professional organizations also based on the needs of the labor market", he explained, adding that and not all the online applications submitted would translate into employment.
    "If there was a need and an opportunity to expand the numbers in relation to labor market possibilities, there is no prejudice," said Piantedosi.
    However, the minister stressed that this is "totally different from the uncontrolled arrivals from Tunisia and other countries".
    "These arrivals are a problem because of the difficulty of management they pose. The government's method is to manage and govern the channels of entry," he concluded.
    The interior ministry said Monday that the "click day of the flows decree was overbooked barely an hour after its opening." According to the Viminale website, at 10 am local time 238,335 applications had arrived, almost three times the quota provided for by the decree.
    The applications were all uploaded onto the online platform.
    (ANSA).