Italy citizenship referendum: 'I was born here - but feel rejected'

Italy is holding a citizenship referendum and it's proving so divisive that some, including the prime minister, are boycotting it.

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To Italy, Sonny is Nigerian, like his passport, and the 39-year-old is only welcome as long as his latest residence permit.

"I've been born here. I will live here. I will die here," the dancer and activist tells me in what he calls "macaroni" Italian-English beneath the palm trees of a scruffy Roman park.

"But not having citizenship is like... being rejected from your country. And I don't think this is a feeling we should have".

That is why Sonny and others have been campaigning for a "Yes" vote in a national referendum on Sunday and Monday that proposes halving the time required to apply for Italian citizenship.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c780yk3z2lyo


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Updated: 1 month ago
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