Italy Passes Voluntary Repatriation Decree Into Law
Italy's Chamber of Deputies approved a decree regulating assisted voluntary repatriation for migrants, with the government hailing it as progress on immigration control while opposition parties condemned it as racist.
The Chamber voted 147 in favor and 93 against, with three abstentions, to pass the urgent decree on assisted voluntary returns, according to Il Giornale. The legislation passed in identical form to the version approved by the Senate, following revisions made necessary after discussions with the Quirinale regarding constitutional concerns with an earlier version.
The decree establishes compensation from 2026 through 2028 for legal representatives who assist foreign nationals in applying for assisted voluntary repatriation programs. The measure expands the pool of individuals who can represent migrants in these proceedings and clarifies that compensation will be paid regardless of whether the repatriation actually occurs.
Implementation details including payment criteria and representative qualifications will be determined by decree from the Interior Minister. The government has allocated 281,055 euros for 2026 and 561,495 euros annually for 2027 and 2028 to fund the program.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni celebrated the passage on social media, stating that the final approval represents another step forward in strengthening state tools for managing migration flows. She emphasized the government’s clear objective of governing migration with certain rules and concrete instruments, promising to continue on this path.
Fabio Rampelli, vice president of the Chamber of Deputies from Brothers of Italy party, described the decree as a fundamental pillar in the strategy against illegal immigration. He argued that the legislation eliminates bureaucratic delays in current expulsion procedures and makes repatriations faster and more effective, ending years of administrative paralysis.
Rampelli asserted that the new norms make life much more difficult for human traffickers and their billion-euro businesses, emphasizing that anyone entering illegally must know the state now has instruments for rapid and certain repatriation.
The left-wing opposition mounted fierce resistance to the measure. Filiberto Zaratti, head of the Green and Left Alliance group in the Constitutional Affairs Committee, accused the government of stoking racism and xenophobia during debate on the bill.
Zaratti argued that Italy has historically been a nation of migrants rather than racists, claiming that men and women fleeing hunger and war seek help while the government speaks of invasion by foreigners. He contended that of just over one million arrivals in 2025, approximately 40 percent were merely passing through to other European countries.
The opposition lawmaker charged that migrants who remain in Italy work in agriculture, care for elderly Italians, and cook in restaurants. He criticized the government for granting regular residence permits to only 7.9 percent of 120,000 regularization applications in 2025, approximately 14,000 people, accusing the majority of feeding clandestine immigration while legitimizing racism and xenophobia.
The decree represents the latest component of the Meloni government’s hardline approach to migration policy, which has positioned Italy at the forefront of European efforts to reduce irregular arrivals and accelerate removals of those without legal status.
With information from Il Giornale
