Key facts
- Brothers of Italy proposed a bill to deport non-EU nationals sentenced to over one year in prison.
- Deportations would be based on bilateral agreements with narrow grounds for challenge.
- Offenders would be barred from returning to Italy.
- The proposal expands offenses leading to citizenship revocation.
- Italy's prisons are among the most overcrowded in Europe with a nearly 140% occupancy rate.
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's party, Brothers of Italy, has proposed a bill that would mandate the deportation of non-EU nationals sentenced to over one year in prison. The legislation, presented by lawmaker Sara Kelany, aims to expedite the removal of convicted foreign offenders and simplify the process of revoking their Italian citizenship. Deportations would be enacted through bilateral agreements, with limited grounds for challenge, primarily concerning the risk of death penalty or inhuman treatment in the offender's home country. Once repatriated, these individuals would be permanently barred from re-entering Italy.
Separately, former Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno, recently released from prison after a conviction for influence-peddling and abuse of office, has emerged as an unlikely advocate for prison reform. He is collaborating with Roberto Vannacci, a former army general and anti-woke campaigner, to highlight the dire conditions in Italy's overcrowded prisons, which have an occupancy rate of nearly 140%. Alemanno documented alleged abuses, staff shortages, and lack of opportunities for inmates.
The Italian government had previously pledged to expand prison capacity by up to 15,000 places, but no new facilities have been created, and a related draft law risks lapsing. Meloni's coalition partner, The League, is also discussing a separate proposal to tighten citizenship requirements and make it easier to lose nationality.