BBC correspondent
Sonny Olumati was born in Rome and lived in Italy for a lifetime, but he does not recognize him as his own.
In Italy, Sonny is the same Nigeria as his passport, and the 39 -year -old boy is as long as his latest residence permission.
“I was born here. I will live here. I will die here.” The dancer and the sportsman says “Macaroni” Italian-English under the stupid Roman park.
“But not having citizenship is like being rejected in your kingdom. And I don’t think this is the feeling we should go.”
That’s why Sonny and other people suggest half the time they need to apply for Italian citizenship for the “Yes” vote on Sunday and Monday.
Reducing the atmosphere from 10 to 5 years will match this country with most others in Europe.
The referendum began by the beginning of citizens and is supported by civil society organizations. But in order for such a referendum to be valid, 50%of all Italian voters must appear.
Giorgia Meloni, the right prime minister of the country, announced that the Citizenship Law was already “excellent” and “very open,” and that it would boycott.
Other parties who are allied with her call for Italians to go to the beach instead of a polling place.
Sonny will not participate. Without citizenship, he has no right to vote.
The problem of people in Italian is a sensitive problem.
Many of the immigrants and refugees arrived in this country every year and smuggled gangs, helping the entire Mediterranean Sea of North Africa.
Melonie’s populist government has helped to reduce the number of arrivals.
But this referendum is aimed at those who have legally traveled to work as a rapidly reduced and aging country.
The goal is limited. To accelerate the process of obtaining citizenship, we cannot relieve strict standards.
Carla Taibi of the Liberal Party, one of some patrons of the referendum, said, “The knowledge of Italian languages without criminal accusations, continuous residence -all requirements are the same.
This reform affects long -term foreign residents who are already hired in Italy. From the factory production line in the north to those who care for pensioners in the Flush Roman region.
Children under 18 will also be naturalized.
Up to 1.4 million people can immediately have citizenship and some estimates are higher.
“These people live, study, work, and contribute to Italy. This is no longer a stranger, but a change in the perception of Italians,” Taibi claims.
Reform will also have a real impact.
As a non -Italian, Sonny could not apply for a public sector’s job and struggled to get a driver’s license.
Last year, when he was booked for the hit reality TV show Fame island, he arrived two weeks later in Honduras because he had a lot of problems in receiving the right documents.
Melony has long ignored a referendum for a long time. Italy’s publicly -owned media, operated by close Meloni ALLY, also attracted attention for voting.
There is no actual “no” campaign, so it is difficult to have a balanced discussion.
But the real reason looks strategic.
“They do not want to raise awareness of the importance of referendum,” said Rome Louis University. “This is reasonable to avoid reaching a 50% threshold.”
The prime minister eventually announced in a polling place that he would refuse to vote “to show respect for the ballot box.”
Melony said at this week’s TV chat show, “If you do not agree, you can also be abstained when you do not agree.”
She claims that the Italian citizenship system is “excellent,” and has already granted citizenship to more foreigners than most countries in Europe.
But about 30,000 of them were Argentina with Italian ancestors on the other side of the world and are unlikely to visit.
Meanwhile, Roberto Vannacci, the first league of Melonie, criticized the people of the referendum, “selling our citizenship and erasing our identity.”
I ask Sonny why he thinks his citizenship is over 20 years.
“It is racist.” He replies immediately.
At some point, his files were completely lost, and now his incident was “pending”.
“We have pastors who talk about white supremacy -Italian racial replacement,” the movement recalls the 2023 commentary of the Melony’s own agricultural minister.
“They do not want black immigration and we know it. I know I am talking because I was born here 39 years ago.”
It is a criticism repeated by the prime minister.
INSAF DIMASSI defines himself as “Italian without citizenship.”
“Italy is extremely painful and disappointing that I grow up as a person of today and not look like citizens,” she explained.
INSAF’s father traveled to Italy for work when he was a baby, and her and her mother joined him. Her parents finally got Italian citizenship 20 days after INSAF was 18 years old. In other words, she had to apply for herself from the beginning, including proving steady income.
INSAF decided to study instead.
“I arrived here in nine months and probably arrived at 33 or 34 years old.
She remembers exactly the time when her “outsider” status reaches home. It was when she was asked to run for the election with the mayor candidate in her hometown.
When she shared the news with her parents full of excitement, they had to remind her that she was not Italian and was not qualified.
“They say that being a citizen is a matter of mercy, and you have to get it. But should I show more than myself?” INSAF wants to know.
“I do not see or be represented.”
The day before the referendum, the students in Rome called a poll on the cobility of the city plaza.
“Yes, on August 8 and 9 (June),” yes “.
It is thinly likely to hit a 50%turnout rate with a government boycott and such poor promotion.
But Sony claims that this vote is just the beginning.
“Even if they vote for ‘no’, we will stay here and think about the next stage,” he says. “We must start talking about the place of the community of this country.”
Additional report of Giulia Tommasi
