Agriculture Minister Teresa Bellanova
said Thursday she had "fought" for a regularisation of migrant
farm workers to save them from exploitation by gangmasters and
than had had the "strength" to cry after achieving the measure
despite stiff opposition inside and outside government.
Bellanova, a former farm worker, has been ridiculed by the
centre-right opposition for crying over what they described as
an unacceptable amnesty for the migrant farm hands, as well as
for home helps and carers.
"It's true. I cried. I worked hard, I fought, and in the end
I wept. I had the strength to weep - yes, the strength - because
I fought a battle for something I believed in from the start,
because I closed the circle on a life that is not just my own,
but is also of so many women and men who like me worked in the
fields," she said.
Bellanova, a member of former premier Matteo Renzi's centrist
Italia Viva (IV) party, had to overcome staunch opposition from
the senior government partner, the anti-establishment 5-Star
Movement (M5S), as well as loud protests from the anti-migrant
opposition League party.
She openly wept as she announced the migrant six-month
regularisation at a press conference unveiling the government's
55-billion-euro coronavirus 'relaunch' decree Wednesday night.
League leader Matteo Salvini said "minister Bellanova cried
for the problems of the poor migrants to be regularised, when
one would have expected commitment and suffering fro Italian
citizens in difficulty".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
