Over the last few decades, the Italian society has experienced a dramatic change. Italy, that once used to be a country of mass emigration, has begun to attract rising flows of foreign immigrants.
That has pushed the country to take action to give a prompt answer to an essential issue, who is Italian and who is not.
The topic has taken a deep impact on public opinion in the last few weeks, and precisely after the election of the Italy’s first black minister, Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge, greeted warmly by Italian society.
Many campaigns, that gained their support after the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano publicly acknowledged the “new Italians”, have been launched by human-rights groups, trade-unions, network of immigrants, charities and social workers, catholic and other faith groups to reform the citizenship laws.
New Minister Kyenge with President Napolitano 
New Minister Kyenge with President Napolitano
“Italy is not a racist country, it has a well-rooted culture of hospitality”, recalled new Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge, adding though that its law looks outdated when compared to the newest social events that has changed the perception of what being Italian means.
According to the Italian Institute for Statistic, slightly less than 8 percent of Italian inhabitants (4.5 million people) are foreigners. Roughly 3.5 million of them are non-European Union nationals. Along with that, last year almost 80,000 babies were born in Italy to non-Italian parents.
Many of those immigrants have started their own businesses and founded families, providing a country with a substantial declined birth rate a young population of foreign descent. Almost 900,000 non-EU minors live in Italy today, either born in the country or arrived with their parents at a very early age.
But due to the law, Italy has the lowest rate of naturalization among the EU countries. Particularly problematic is the situation of the “second generation”. Whether their parents are originals from Africa, Asia, Europe or Latin America, they grew up attending Italian public schools, speaking Italian and sharing goals and dreams with their Italian friends.
Nevertheless, according to the actual law, they have to wait until their 18th birthday before applying for citizenship. And if they were not registered immediately after birth by their parents, which is often the case, they will be like any other foreign immigrant forever, needing a residence permit issued on specific conditions.
A famous example is Balotelli, one of Italy’s biggest soccer stars and a forward on the national team, who was born in Italy to parents from Ghana and raised by an Italian family. Its case, and its remarked love for the national team, has been often used as an example of what being Italian means.
“The appointment of Cecile Kyenge is a huge step forward towards a more civil Italian society, more responsible and aware of the need for better and definitive integration,” Balotelli said.
The new citizenship law, which will be proposed in a short period of time, called for a citizenship based more on the “soil” than on “blood”. Something called “socialization-based acquisition”, where residence, schooling, integration in the society and shared constitutional values form the basis of the citizenship.
“We must treasure the desire for new Italians. A community based on integration is built in the halls of schools and universities,” new appointed Prime Minister Enrico Letta said.
Whether the new bill will be approved or not will probably determine the destiny of million of people living in Italy and with them the future of Italy itself.
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