Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has accused criminal gangs of exploiting Italys visa system to traffic illegal Bangladeshi immigrants into the country.
The prime minister issued an official notification highlighting the need to curb the smuggling of illegal immigrants in a cabinet meeting recently.
"The commitment of the entire government has so far allowed us to reduce illegal entries by 60 percent this year. However, an organised crime group has infiltrated the visa application process. They are abusing our legal entry decrees for people who would otherwise not be able to enter the country," said Meloni.
The head of the government cited that Bangladesh tops the list for illegal immigration to Italy according to the data collected from January to May 2024. "Work visas are being sold from euro 12,000 to euro 15,000", said Meloni.
"We have also received information about human trafficking and illegal sales of work visas. Some organised criminal groups in Bangladesh and Italy create anonymous companies that exist only on paper," she added.
Italy announced in 2022 that it would take in a large number of immigrant workers in an attempt to limit its labour shortage. This was done in the hopes of further limiting illegal immigrants from entering the country.
Nearly 5 million workers from 33 non-EU countries applied for legal work visas during the first and second phases of the application process from 2023 to 2025.
However, the majority of these workers have not worked under their specified employers after being permitted entry to the country. As such, after a certain period, they become illegal immigrants. Of them, the number of illegal Bangladeshi workers is the highest.
Last week, Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni issued a directive to stop the entry of illegal immigrants into Italy. In 2023, around 136,000 workers were expected to enter Italy under a work visa. But about 282,000 applied for it.
"However, 157,000 of these applications were for Campania alone, and another 20,000 for Puia, even though only 12 per cent and 6 per cent of the companies are owned by Italians respectively," she added.
According to the data, only 3 per cent of the workers who entered Campania in 2023 work under employers while the remaining 97 per cent remain in the region as illegal immigrants. —bdnews24.com
