By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO
Published: May 14, 2009
ROME — President Giorgio Napolitano warned Thursday that intolerance and xenophobia posed a danger for Italy as the lower house of Parliament approved wide-ranging security legislation that includes measures toughening Italian immigration policies.
Speaking at a conference in Rome, Mr. Napolitano warned that there was a danger that social tensions would be inflamed by “public rhetoric that, even in Italy, does not hesitate to incorporate intolerant and xenophobic tones.”
Under the terms of the bill, which was passed Thursday by the Chamber of Deputies after three confidence votes Wednesday to approve amendments, illegal immigrants entering or residing in Italy will be fined up to 10,000 euros, or about $13,500, before being expelled.
In addition, the period of time that foreigners can be held in detention centers has been tripled to 180 days. An African woman killed herself at one such center near Rome last week.
The bill, backed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s coalition allies in the Northern League, which has championed a legislative hard line against immigration, also sanctions the creation of neighborhood watch groups to increase security on Italian streets.
“We have the consensus of the majority of Italians,” Interior Minister Roberto Maroni — who belongs to the Northern League — said Thursday shortly after the vote. “The government’s commitment on this front is appreciated by Italians.”
But critics say that because the new law criminalizes clandestine immigration, implementing it would clog up an already backlogged justice system. About a million foreigners are estimated to be living illegally in Italy.
The measure could also have a significant impact on Italian families, many of whom depend on foreign women — many of them in Italy illegally because of existing restrictions on immigration — to care for their elderly and children.
“The disorder this law will produce will be terrible,” said Christopher Hein, the director of the Italian Council for Refugees. “It’s one thing to publicly announce a law, quite another to implement something that will only create more confusion, more bureaucracy and make life more difficult for people who are legally here to work.”
The bill now goes to the Senate for a final passage before becoming law. Crossing that finish line will mark the end of a yearlong battle on the part of the Northern League, which imposed its hard-line position on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s coalition even as some allies openly wavered in the face of criticism on the part of the Italian Catholic church.
The Northern League has been pushing its anti-immigrant line with the approach of European Parliament elections June 6 and 7. Last week, one League official in Milan suggested that subway trains in the Lombardy capital reserve seats for native Milanese.
Mr. Maroni has also taken credit for the enactment last week of a treaty between Italy and Libya that includes the forced return of migrant boats intercepted in international waters to their port of departure. The government has lauded the practice as key to fighting human trafficking.
On Thursday, Italy gave three patrol boats to Libya that will be used for joint patrolling operations.