The Council of Ministers approved on 9 October 2026 a decree extending Italy’s state of emergency on irregular migration for a further six months, releasing an additional €52.5 million to front-line regions. Civil-protection minister Nello Musumeci said the funds will finance extra reception capacity, fast-track asylum personnel and voluntary-return programmes. Originally declared in April 2025, the emergency framework allows the government to bypass standard procurement rules and deploy military logistics to hotspots such as Lampedusa and Pozzallo. NGOs welcomed the budget boost but urged Rome to pair it with structural reforms, including more humanitarian corridors and labour-migration channels. For employers, the extension means that simplified hiring rules for asylum seekers—including immediate tax-code issuance and exemption from labour-market tests—remain in place until at least April 2027. Companies can therefore recruit eligible applicants without waiting for full refugee status, provided they comply with sectoral collective contracts. The decree also directs the interior ministry to publish monthly occupancy dashboards for each prefecture, giving municipalities and businesses clearer visibility on available workforce pools. Industry groups in agriculture and logistics say the transparency will aid manpower planning ahead of the 2027 harvest and Christmas peak seasons.
Source: Rai News
