Italy mulling migrant amnesty to fill labour shortages in agriculture

Migrant
Rome, April 22, 2020 (dpa/NAN) Italy on Wednesday considered legalizing the status of undocumented migrants as part of efforts to fill labour shortages in agriculture, Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said.
“The issue is being assessed with the agriculture and labour ministers.
“There is a need to find a specific solution to the problems that are arising in the agriculture and fishing industries, and to tackle labour shortages in those sectors,” Lamorgese said.
According to farmers’ lobby Coldiretti, 2020 agricultural sector will be short of at least 200,000 foreign seasonal workers due to border closures.
Agriculture Minister Teresa Bellanova said legalizing undocumented foreign workers was also a way of freeing them from the common risk of exploitation.
Bellanova is also in talks with Romania where most seasonal rural workers come from to create special corridors allowing them to enter Italy in spite restrictions.
However, Coldiretti instead, proposed simplifying rules for casual work so the unemployed, pensioners and students could find new work in the fields.
Earlier, Coldiretti said it received nearly 400 CVs within few hours of opening a portal for candidates.
In Brussels, a European Commission spokesman said he could not comment specifically on Italian plans, but noted that they did not seem to go against EU rules.(dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Yahaya Isah/Tajudeen Atitebi