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The Star
2 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Roundup: Italy to admit 500,000 non-EU workers by 2028 amid ongoing migration challenges
ROME, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Italian government on Monday approved a new decree setting annual quotas for the admission of non-European Union (EU) workers, allowing up to 497,550 individuals to enter the country for employment over the next three years. According to an official statement from the cabinet, the quotas will cover the period from 2026 to 2028 and include 230,550 permits for non-seasonal and self-employment, along with 267,000 permits for seasonal work in sectors such as agriculture and tourism. The government said the decision was based on input from social partners and an evaluation of work permit applications submitted in recent years. These new quotas add to the approximately 450,000 migrant work visas issued between 2023 and 2025. Since taking office in October 2022, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing administration has tightened measures against irregular immigration, focusing on reducing arrivals via sea routes and accelerating repatriations. Simultaneously, the government has emphasized its commitment to managing labor migration in line with Italy's economic and demographic needs. Data from the Ministry of the Interior show that as of June 30, a total of 29,903 migrants had arrived in Italy by sea in 2025, up from 26,015 during the same period in 2024. Meanwhile, 87 migrants were rescued on Monday during a maritime operation in the Mediterranean between Tunisia and Italy, and brought to the Italian island of Lampedusa, according to local media reports. The group, primarily from African countries including Sudan, Cameroon, Guinea, Mali, and Senegal, had initially been assisted by Tunisian fishermen after their vessel encountered difficulties. The Italian coastguard later completed the rescue. State broadcaster Rai News 24 reported that the boat had departed from Tunisia and capsized approximately 70 km off the coast of Lampedusa during the night between Sunday and Monday. Among those rescued were ten minors. According to the coastguard, authorities believe at least five people drowned before rescuers arrived.
Local Germany
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Local Germany
LATEST: How many applications for German citizenship are still pending?
Germany's immigration offices have struggled to stay afloat as applications for naturalisation have flooded in since the end of June last year, when a reform of the country's citizenship rules was enacted under the leadership of the former federal government. The legal change allowed dual-citizenship for non-EU German nationals, and also relaxed the requirements for foreign nationals to naturalise as German. Taken together, the changes opened the doors to German citizenship for a far wider proportion of foreigner nationals. However, it was well-known that immigration authorities across the country were already over-burdened even before the dual-citizenship law took effect. Many applicants saw waiting times for naturalisation decisions lengthen dramatically as a wave of new applications came pouring in from the end of June last year. As The Local has reported, in Germany's major cities, hopeful Germans-to-be are commonly made to wait months or even years to hear a decision on their application. New figures give a sense of how many applications are still open in various German cities and states. Here's the latest: How long does it take for a citizenship application to be processed? According to the Ministry of the Interior, the average processing time for naturalisations in the state of Hesse was assumed to be two years in 2024. Those who aspire to German citizenship in the state of Baden-Württemberg currently wait an average of 18 months. In Hamburg, the duration of the proceedings is still around 13 months. These figures, which were recently reported by the German Press Agency (DPA), are aligned with wait times given to The Local by authorities from various cities as of January this year . At that time, wait times in Stuttgart - the capital of Baden-Württemberg - were said to be about 18 months, and in Frankfurt - the largest city in Hesse - they were said to be 26 to 30 months. DPA did not report information for current wait times in other German cities or states, but The Local's last inquiry revealed expected wait times of; six to nine months in Leipzig, more than nine months in Düsseldorf, 12 to 20 months in Cologne, and 18 months in Munich. READ ALSO: Which German cities have the longest waiting times for citizenship? In Berlin the situation was a bit more complex. The capital city's immigration authority (LEA) told The Local that wait times were case dependent. As we have reported, it many older paper applications have been held up for years , whereas more recently submitted digital applications are moving through the system in a matter of months. Advertisement Number of pending applications remains high Wait times at the Ausländerbehörden and various municipal immigration authorities are naturally correlated with increased numbers of pending applications. Around 24,200 people in Rhineland-Palatinate were waiting for a decision on their application for naturalisation in March this year, according to DPA. A survey by Mediendienst Integration found that the number of applications still open in Munich and Heidelberg rose by around 85 percent each compared to the previous year. In Mannheim, the number of applications still in review was 2.5 times (or 250 percent) higher than a year earlier. In Munich, there was recently around 33,000 open applications. What's the hold up? When pressed about long-wait times and applications piling up, immigrations authorities tend to cite the same issues across the board: not enough employees and too many applications. Advertisement The same issues have led to sometimes enormous wait times for residence permits in certain cities. READ ALSO: Why does it take years to get an appointment with Nuremberg's immigration office? EXPLAINED - How to apply for a residency permit online in Berlin A spokesman for the city of Magdeburg told the DPA: "A naturalisation procedure depends above all on documents that need to be obtained for identity verification..." They added that this can take "between three months and five years." They also noted that "the number of rejected applications is increasing".
Ya Biladi
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Ya Biladi
Two regional governors sacked after Eid slaughter controversy
The Ministry of the Interior has decided to relieve Mouad Jamai, the Wali of the Fès-Meknès region, of his duties for taking part in the ritual slaughter during Eid al-Adha, reliable sources told Yabiladi. This move comes after King Mohammed VI urged Moroccans to refrain from performing the Eid sacrifice this year, due to the climatic and economic challenges that have severely reduced livestock numbers. Abdelghani Sabbar, the governor of Meknès, has been appointed to manage the region's affairs until a new Wali is named. It's worth noting that King Mohammed VI had appointed Jamai as Wali of the Fès-Meknès region and governor of the Fès prefecture on October 18, 2024. Prior to this, Jamai served as Wali of the Oriental region and governor of the Oujda-Angad prefecture from June 25, 2017. The Ministry of the Interior has also decided to relieve Farid Chourak, Wali (Governor) of the Marrakech-Safi region, of his duties after he appeared in a video slaughtering a sheep for Eid al-Adha, claiming he was doing so on behalf of the region's residents. Rachid Benchikhi, the governor of Al Haouz province, has been appointed acting Wali of the region until a new appointment is made. Farid Chourak was appointed Wali of the Marrakech-Safi region in October 2023. Prior to that, in 2017, he was named governor of the Al Hoceima province.
DW
11-06-2025
- Politics
- DW
How 'safe' is Afghanistan under the Taliban? – DW – 06/11/2025
The Islamist militant group ruling Afghanistan has claimed the country is secure. But ordinary Afghans say hunger, poverty and fear are everyday realities. The Taliban are calling on all Afghans who have fled the country to return, claiming Afghanistan is safe. Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the chairman of the Taliban government's Council of Ministers, promised a general amnesty to returnees in his message on Saturday to mark the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha. "The perpetrators of the violence are now in power, for example, as head of the Ministry of the Interior. Of course, they now claim that the country is safe," Nilofar Ibrahimi, a former member of Afghanistan's parliament before the Taliban takeover, told DW. Sirajuddin Haqqani serves as the Taliban's interior minister. Haqqani is believed to be responsible for numerous deadly attacks in Afghanistan up until the Taliban takeover of the country in 2021. He is on the FBI's Most Wanted List on suspicion of "coordinating and supporting cross-border attacks against United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan." Haqqani now plays a key role in the Taliban's power structure and is responsible, in particular, for security and police matters. "The Taliban suppress any resistance and intimidate the population," said Ibrahimi, who had to leave Afghanistan after the Taliban took power. "In Badakhshan province, in the northeast of the country, they are taking action against farmers who don't know what else to grow because the Taliban have banned poppy cultivation," she added. In Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, up to 80% of the population works in agriculture. Compared to other crops, opium cultivation was significantly more profitable, even in times of drought, and offered many farmers a secure source of income. On the orders of their supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban have stopped poppy cultivation throughout Afghanistan. Now the farmers are left with nothing and don't know how to feed their families. Afghan farmers fear for livelihoods after Taliban poppy ban To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Poverty in Afghanistan under the Taliban Since the Taliban came to power, more than half of Afghanistan's population has slipped below the poverty line. Millions of people are dependent on humanitarian aid. The country has a population of around 41.5 million. According to the United Nations Population Fund, around 43% are children between the ages of 0 and 14. According to a March 2025 report by UNICEF, every second child in Afghanistan is in urgent need of emergency aid. The number of acutely malnourished children is rising steadily. Many underage girls are forced into marriage because their families no longer know how to feed their children. "These are children who are denied the right to education, personal development and even childlike play. They are also confronted with painful consequences such as premature births, extreme poverty, family violence and social isolation," an activist from an Afghan women's protest movement, Purple Saturday, told DW in an email. For security reasons, she asked not to be named. "And this in a society in which the support structures for women and children have practically collapsed," she added. These local activists try to inform women and young girls through their networks and, for example, teach them privately. Under the Taliban, women are no longer allowed to study at universities. Secondary schools after the fifth grade have been banned for girls. "Now more than ever, we need the genuine and unconditional solidarity of the international community," the activist said. Afghanistan: Women become 'invisible' under Taliban To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Those who fled the Taliban fear returning Many desperate mothers have fled to neighboring countries, including Diba, a mother of three. Before the Taliban takeover, she had worked in the Afghan Ministry of Education and was a co-founder of an institution for the advancement of women, which was later closed by the Taliban. After months under Taliban rule, the women's rights activist was forced to flee to Pakistan. "I sold all my belongings and fled," she told DW, adding she now fears being deported from Pakistan after her visa expired. Afghan refugees are currently being deported from Pakistan en masse. According to estimates, around 200,000 people were deported in April and May alone. "I would rather hide than return to Afghanistan," Diba said. In Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, she would not even be allowed to move freely in society as a woman, let alone find a job to support her family. Her daughters would not have a self-determined life. She hopes to find a way to get herself and her children to a safe third country. Other countries are also planning to deport Afghan refugees. Iran, for example, has announced that it will return four million Afghans to their supposedly "safe home country" this year. In May alone, 15,000 people were deported. "We will welcome them," the Taliban promised. Fear among Afghan refugees as Pakistan steps up deportations To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Parvaneh Alizadeh from DW's Dari/Pashto department contributed to this report This article was originally written in German. Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru
Ya Biladi
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Ya Biladi
Wali of Fès-Meknès removed after ignoring King's Eid sacrifice call
The Ministry of the Interior has decided to relieve Mouad Jamai, the Wali of the Fès-Meknès region, of his duties for taking part in the ritual slaughter during Eid al-Adha, reliable sources told Yabiladi. This move comes after King Mohammed VI urged Moroccans to refrain from performing the Eid sacrifice this year, due to the climatic and economic challenges that have severely reduced livestock numbers. Abdelghani Sabbar, the governor of Meknès, has been appointed to manage the region's affairs until a new Wali is named. It's worth noting that King Mohammed VI had appointed Jamai as Wali of the Fès-Meknès region and governor of the Fès prefecture on October 18, 2024. Prior to this, Jamai served as Wali of the Oriental region and governor of the Oujda-Angad prefecture from June 25, 2017.
