Since Covid-19 hit Italy, regularisation for undocumented migrants was seen as important not only to protect migrant workers’ rights but also to counter their vulnerability to contagion. Regularisation agreed in May 2020 is a step forward, but it contains significant inadequacies, leaving out of its scope many migrants in conditions of irregularity

Since Covid-19 hit Italy, regularisation for undocumented migrants was seen as important not only to protect migrant workers’ rights but also to counter their vulnerability to contagion. Regularisation agreed in May 2020 is a step forward, but it contains significant inadequacies, leaving out of its scope many migrants in conditions of irregularity and precariousness. This blog argues that regularisation should cover all migrant workers, irrespective of their role in the labour market while it is itself a shorter-term fix that does not provide longer-term solutions to the exploitation of migrants.

Regularisation was initially proposed for irregular migrant farmworkers. National farmers’ organisations sounded the alarm about labour shortages, especially for East European workers (mainly Romanians, Poles and Bulgarians), who constitute a significant component of the migrant labour force in the agri-food sector.

In addition to Eastern European migrant workers, the demand for low wage and exploitable labour in agriculture has also been met by non-EU migrants, including asylum seekers and undocumented migrants.

Lockdown prevented many of these migrant farmworkers, especially those without a residence permit or a regular contract, from looking for work.

Particularly in the south, thousands of migrant workers have been stuck in makeshift encampments living without basic protections against Covid-19.

Trade unions, NGOs and workers themselves have called for regularisation of undocumented migrants, claiming this to be a social justice measure while also ensuring that migrants would have access to healthcare.

After weeks of intense debate with some misgivings within the governing coalition and opposition from the far right Lega and Fratelli D’Italia parties, a plan to regularise undocumented migrants was adopted. This provision, entitled ‘Emergence of Employment Relationships’, was included in the Decree approved by the Italian government on May 13, 2020, for a post-pandemic economic relaunch.

This is a part of a blog post by Letizia Palumbo.