At the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many European countries decided that regularisation of undocumented migrants was important. Not only to protect migrants’ rights but also to support host societies and avoid labour shortages in some key sectors, such as agri-food.
Italy, despite its restrictive migration policies, was quick to act on this. But what the country offered was significantly lacking and did not include many migrants in need of regularisation.
In fact, the country’s plan for regularisation has failed and revealed how such measures – temporary, selective, emergency-based and excessively bureaucratic – cannot be the solution. Especially when it comes to addressing the exploitation of migrant workers.
