Interview with Natale Forlani, Director of Immigrations at the Ministry of Labour

Better planning of the influx of immigrants, with quotas corresponding to the real needs of firms and families, and creation of an effective system that matches job offers and demands are some of the urgent objectives of the Immigrations Department of the Ministry of Labour, headed by Mr. Natale Forlani.

He holds that the above objectives can be met even without changing any laws.

Asked what the Government was planning to do with immigrants who have lost their jobs due to the financial crisis, Mr. Forlani said priority should be given to them instead of allowing in new workers from abroad. Those already in the country who have lost their jobs should be helped to find jobs, he said. “Otherwise we risk losing human and professional capital while at the same time promoting undeclared work, increasing the number of people who are ready to work for less money with less rights, to the disadvantage of regular workers,” Mr. Forlani said. 

While efforts should be made to help immigrants who have lost their jobs from becoming irregular immigrants, Mr. Forlani said the rule that only those with sufficient income for their upkeep should remain in Italy is unquestionable.
Mr. Forlani who holds that at the moment there is no need of allowing into the country general workers, revealed that the next Quota Agreement (Decreto flussi) will open the country’s borders to highly qualified workers.

He observed that there is a decrease in the number of European citizens coming to Italy while the number of Asians has increased.

In 2009 the Government approved a measure to regularize irregular immigrants doing domestic work in the country. Many people who applied to be regularized are still waiting for the outcome of their applications. Mr. Forlani said they are working on speeding up the process of processing the applications for regularization.

He said Regional and Provincial authorities, together with Trade unions, professional associations, work agencies and all other authorised public and private bodies should be working on matching job offers and demands. “It is important to create a network of all these operators.”

The data available shows that immigrants mainly find jobs through the word of mouth, Mr. Forlani said, adding that this may facilitate undeclared work as only 30% of immigrants go through official channels while looking for work.

Commenting on the domestic work which is the sector hiring many foreigners in Italy, Mr. Forlani said the sector “is quite specific and requires specific solutions.”

He said that the main reason why many domestic workers are undeclared is because of the complex process involved in establishing the work relationship and the high costs for families.

Mr. Forlani suggested that benevolent institutions (patronati), for instance, could facilitate the matching of job offers and demands, and assist both employers and workers in doing the paper work. Something should also be done to help families claim tax relief on some expenses incurred in hiring domestic workers, Mr. Forlani said.

When we pointed to him that the Government’s new integration plan focuses mainly on training in countries of origin, the same strategy already adopted by the Bossi-Fini Immigration Law, Mr. Forlani admitted that the previous system has so far not produced any tangible results. He said there is need of a new law allowing authorized bodies to work even abroad to match the job offers and demand. “Above all, the type of training offered abroad should be changed,” he said.

He explained that so far, things have worked in the following way: people have been trained abroad then included in the list of those looking for work, with hope that some companies will hire them. “This system is not working. Companies should say how many job opportunities they have, what type of skills they need then specific training can be carried out abroad,” Mr. Forlani said. He went on to say that those being trained abroad for specific jobs in Italy could also learn some Italian and civic education and once they complete their training, be assured of work.

Mr. Forlani confirmed that the new integration plan allows such workers to come to Italy out of the quota system.

Immigrations Offices at the Prefecture currently take a very long time to process applications for clearing foreign workers to enter Italy. Commenting on this, Mr. Forlani said there was need of reinforcing the staff. He pointed out that Immigrations Offices at the Prefecture should not be overloaded with the work of handling all the applications. “They should be supported by a network of associations and work agencies. Otherwise it becomes impossible for them to carry out their work,” he said.

By Elvio Pasca

Ahmadi Muslims advised that there is nothing wrong with seeking worldly success

Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya UK (MKA), the youth wing of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in the UK recently held its 38th Annual National Conference (Ijtema) at Islamabad in Tilford, Surrey.

The three day event, which was attended by nearly 4,000 delegates, included numerous academic and sporting activities as well as exhibitions by various organisations such as the British Army, Police and Rescue Services.

The highlight of the event was the presence of the world Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad who concluded the event with a faith inspiring address in which he spoke about the sacrifices made by Ahmadis throughout the world, most notably in Pakistan where the community continues to face the most horrific State sanctioned persecution.

His Holiness was also in attendance when the British Army sportingly took part in a Tug of War competition against a team of MKA. This competition was decisively won by MKA much to the delight of the many Ahmadis in attendance.
During the final session a report was submitted by the President of Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK, Tommy Kallon who briefed the conference about charitable donations made by MKA in the past year. Under the leadership of Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat is committed to serving mankind and in respect of this Tommy Kallon announced that a total of over £284,000 had been raised during the past year and handed over to various charities. As well as supporting various local British charities, tens of thousands of pounds were also raised for disaster relief efforts in Haiti and Pakistan.

During his concluding address His Holiness, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad spoke about how the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat had had to face great opposition and cruelty throughout its history but that the Jamaat had always responded to such hostility with patience and prayers.

His Holiness advised the Ahmadi Muslims that there was nothing wrong with seeking worldly success. However such worldly and material gains ought to be a means to better a person spiritually, thus improving the peace and prosperity of today’s divided world. He counselled that absolute truth and the keeping of trusts were crucial to success. Ahmadi Muslims should be known for their virtues above all else in the same way that not even the bitterest enemies of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) dared to call him a liar because they knew that every act and deed of his was steeped in absolute honesty.

GMMP research: 76% of people heard or read about in world's news are male

Women continue to be significantly underrepresented and misrepresented in news media coverage, Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) research in 108 countries shows.

The project is coordinated by the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC).

It emerges that 76% of the people heard or read about in the world's news are male. The world seen in news media remains largely a male one.

The GMMP monitored 1,365 newspapers, television and radio stations and Internet news sites, 17,795 news stories and 38,253 persons in the news in 108 countries with 82% of the world's people.

The report “Who Makes the News? The Global Media Monitoring Project 2010” shows that 24% of people in the news are female, compared to 17% in 1995. At the same time, 44% of persons providing popular opinion in news stories are female compared to 34% in 2005.

According to the report, news media show significant gender bias with 46% of news stories reinforcing gender stereotypes.

Only 13% of news stories focus centrally on women, while expert commentary is overwhelmingly male with only one female in every five experts.

The age of women in the news is mentioned twice as often and family status almost four times as often as for men.

The report shows that today female reporters are responsible for 37% of stories compared to 28% of 15 years ago, and their stories challenge gender stereotypes twice as often as stories by male reporters.

Gender bias in Internet news is similar and in some respects even more intense than that found in the traditional news media.

The 2010 report contains a plan of action for media professionals and others committed to gender-ethical news media.

Initiated 15 years ago, the GMMP is the largest and longest running research and advocacy initiative on fair and balanced gender representation in the news media. It is coordinated by WACC, a global network of communicators promoting communication for social change, in collaboration with data analyst Media Monitoring Africa, and with support from the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

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"What are the qualities you see in others that you would most like to have yourselves?"

At a celebration of Catholic Education held at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, on 17th September, Pope Benedict XVI launched a fitting legacy to his well-loved predecessor, Pope John Paul II. This took place during a school assembly that was broadcast live to over 800,000 school pupils across England, Scotland and Wales.

Thirty two children from school years nine to 11 were selected from state, independent and special needs schools across the UK as a result of having achieved local or national success in sport or who have excelled against the odds and achieved in the sporting field to make a sporting pledge before the Holy Father to engage in sport and “play with the right spirit, enjoy myself, give of my best, respect others, myself and the rules”.

Recognising the enormous potential within sport to foster healthy values and virtues, the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales wish to move beyond the boundaries of sporting excellence found in Catholic schools to encourage greater engagement with, and participation by, Catholics generally in sport. They believe that Catholic teaching has much to offer the sporting world, and that sport, when engaged with appropriately, can offer much in the area of human development.

Pope Benedict XVI said to students: “We live in a celebrity culture, and young people are often encouraged to model themselves on figures from the world of sport or entertainment. My question for you is this: what are the qualities you see in others that you would most like to have yourselves? What kind of person would you really like to be?
“There is always a bigger picture over and above… the different skills you learn. I pray that you too will feel encouraged to practise virtue and to grow in knowledge and friendship with God.

“In view of London’s forthcoming Olympic Games, it has been a pleasure to inaugurate this Sports Foundation, named in honour of Pope John Paul II, and I pray that all will give glory to God through their sporting activities, as well as bringing enjoyment to themselves and others.”

Commenting on the creation of the Foundation, Archbishop Vincent Nichols said: “With the Olympic Games less than two years away, we have a moment of opportunity and a whole process in which the aspirations of young people, the meanings of habit and routine in their lives, and the whole notion of achieving excellence can begin to be lifted up again.
“Within the 2012 Games there are seeds for all sorts of good ideas and good initiatives. The John Paul II Foundation for Sport is a venture that I am particularly interested in as it uses sport to try and introduce to young and old alike the importance of health, the dignity of our bodies, the care of physical well-being and its spiritual meaning.”

At a time when sports news fills both the front and back pages of newspapers, it is fitting that the John Paul II Foundation for Sport has been established by the Catholic Bishops as a legacy in the UK to the forthcoming 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the life and witness of Pope John Paul II. He was himself a passionate sportsman and spoke 120 times during his pontificate about sport, insistent that sport should have its own unique celebration during the Great Jubilee Year 2000.

The schoolchildren made their pledge before the Pope and later lit their own individual candles which they took back to their schools as a reminder that the Christian faith is something to be passed on, and that Christ is present in and through sport.

Two students from Catholic secondary schools in the shadow of the Olympic site at Stratford in East London spoke of their experience of the Foundation’s launch.

Christopher Achiampong, 15, from St Bonaventure’s Catholic School, Forest Gate trains with Arsenal FC’s Youth Academy. He called the launch “a phenomenal, life-changing experience – a wonderful privilege. This will definitely motivate me to do the very best that I can and to reach my potential.”

Hollie Nwofor, 15, from St Angela’s Catholic School in Forest Gate said: “Quite often young people are negatively perceived by the Media, but The Big Assembly and the launch of the John Paul II Foundation for Sport proves that there are hundreds and thousands of young Catholics that want to do good and follow the example that the Popes have set so as to make a difference to those around them.”