Perhaps some had hoped that before reaching this final step, a bit of common sense would prevail regarding such a sensitive issue. Instead, this unprecedented measure was made worse with a final decree that ruptures the relationship between Italians abroad and their own country.
The fact that the ‘rules’ on citizenship needed tweaking to avoid abuse and opportunism is not in question. But switching from one extreme to the other without the slightest regard for a long history full of shared values, sacrifices, love, pride and attachment shows a complete lack of respect for millions of Italians around the world.
The restrictions introduced by this decree on ius sanguinis - citizenship by descent -completely ignore history, sentiment and the people themselves. They ignore all those who, for decades, have been and continue to be guardians of a strong and sincere emotional bond with Italy.
This is a brutal slap in the face to tens of thousands of families in Australia who have tried, with passion and dedication, to pass on to their children and grandchildren the pride of feeling Italian.
Families who have made sacrifices to feel part of a nation that, instead of thanking them, says: We don’t want you anymore.
I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but you are the children and grandchildren of second-class citizens, because your grandparents or parents, even if born in Italy, did not remain exclusively Italian. They exercised a right that the Italian government gave them - the right to have dual citizenship.
And now you, the children and grandchildren who grew up hearing Italian spoken at home, who studied or are studying the language of your parents and grandparents, who feel proud of your origins, who admire everything Italian, who buy Italian products and defend Made in Italy in all its forms, who love Italian cuisine and buy a Fiat or an Alfa Romeo while dreaming of a Maserati or Ferrari, who fantasise about vacation in Italy (and are even invited by those now rejecting you to go and “discover your roots”), who maybe dream of one day studying in Italy - you can now put your hopes of one day becoming citizens of ‘your’ country in the bin.
Your parents and grandparents, who due to various circumstances and needs took on another citizenship, would never have imagined that one day a minister and a handful of his colleagues would retroactively decide they needed to remain exclusively Italian to ensure you the right to officially affirm your sense of belonging and identity. Citizenship is much more than a mere document; it’s a privilege, a sense of belonging that lives inside us and must be honoured and respected.
Shame on this decision. Not for introducing criteria to avoid abuse - we could have accepted, albeit with some reservations, the idea of limiting citizenship by descent to parents and grandparents - but rather for that clause, which was added at the last moment and passed by the Council of Ministers, removing the automatic right to citizenship for those with a parent or grandparent born in Italy.
The additional requirement of exclusivity to the decree-law approved by the Commission on March 28 this year changes everything and harms entire generations. On page 12 of the document, paragraph e was deleted. This clause said that citizenship by descent was for those with a first-degree ancestor - a biological or adopted parent - who was born in Italy.
And paragraph c, which also referenced a parent or adopting citizen who was born in Italy, was changed to the punitive “first or second-degree ancestor who possesses Italian citizenship exclusively, or possessed it at the time of death”.
It’s almost laughable now to hear the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, speak of “a measure intended to restore dignity and meaning to a right that must be based on an authentic bond with Italy, not just bureaucratic, but cultural, civic and identity-based”.
“Citizenship,” said the Deputy Prime Minister, “must be a serious and conscious recognition, confirmed through commitment. This reform does not exclude, but rather makes one responsible.
“It proposes more selective and transparent criteria capable of strengthening the integrity of our system and preventing abuses.”
Clearly, Tajani and his colleagues didn’t take the time to understand or listen to those who could have better informed them about the hundreds of thousands of examples of the very commitment they speak of; a real cultural, civic and identity-based bond with Italy that made traversing the obscurity and coldness of bureaucracy worth it.
Bravo, Tajani, for not understanding or listening!
And bravo to all those who voted in the Senate and House to pass a measure - absurdly introduced under the guise of national security - that Senator Francesco Giacobbe described as “short-sighted, wrong and, above all, unconstitutional” and that “will inevitably be the subject of a flood of legal challenges and appeals”.
Speaking after the final Senate vote, the (PD) representative for Italians living in Africa, Asia, Oceania and Antarctica also said (and we fully agree) that:
“The majority and the government have chosen to criminalise those with dual citizenship, and with them all Italians abroad, descendants of those Italians who sacrificed everything, including their love for their homeland, to emigrate and build a better future for their children.
“[These are] people who contributed to the economic, social and cultural development of other countries without ever denying their Italian identity,” he continued.
“Now, the Italian government responds by denying their rights, humiliating their history and betraying their trust.”
However, amid so much disappointment and frustration there is one positive that comes from this decree; an amendment was approved that allows Italians who emigrated and were forced to renounce their citizenship to apply to reacquire it.
A long-awaited measure that undoubtedly strengthens the ties with Italy for those who, while living abroad, have remained fully Italian at heart.
In this case, the only requirement is to have been born in Italy.
