Anjum Iqbal Daily Dawn + Dawn TV Report
Rome: Italy has announced the issuance of 500,000 work visas for non-European countries from 2026 to 2028.
According to the British news agency Reuters, this move is part of a strategy to meet the growing labor shortage in the country and open the doors to legal immigration.
The government announcement said that 164,850 new people will be granted work permits in 2026, while a total of 497,550 new work visas will be issued by 2028.
This move is the second major immigration plan by the right-wing government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Earlier, it was decided to issue more than 450,000 visas between 2023 and 2025.
While the government is issuing legal work visas, it is also adopting a strict policy against illegal immigration.
This includes measures to stop migrants arriving via the Mediterranean, banning the activities of charitable organizations and accelerating the process of returning illegal immigrants.
Italy is facing a severe shortage of workers, especially in agriculture, industry and other key sectors, as 281,000 more deaths than births occurred in 2024 and the total population fell by 37,000 to 58.93 million.
According to the research institute Osservatorio Conti Pubblici, at least 10 million migrants must be admitted to the country by 2050 to prevent the continuation of population decline.
The Coldiretti lobby, which is active in the agricultural sector, welcomed the government’s decision and said that this measure will help ensure the availability of workers in the fields and food production.
“We are determined to open channels for legal immigration so that important sectors of our economy can benefit,” Italian Interior Minister Matteo Panettiere said in an interview.
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