[caption id="attachment_689" align="alignleft" width="960"] Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni CREDIT: Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via AP[/caption] While tightening up its crackdown on migrants sneaking across the Mediterranean to enter Europe, Italy will issue more work permits to foreign workers. Following complaints of a lack of employees in several industries, including tourism and construction, Rome stated it will grant 425,000 work licenses to non-EU citizens between this year and 2025. The Italian economy is recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, but the Bank of Italy has issued a warning that its recovery strategy may be jeopardized by a lack of trained labor. The right-wing government of Prime Minister Georgia Meloni said that the increase would encourage legal migration to fill labor market vacancies and that the quotas were established following discussions with companies and unions. Italy issued fewer than 31,000 work licenses annually to foreign workers from outside the EU prior to the pandemic. In addition to the 82,705 permits already in the works, 40,000 more will be granted this year. In addition to increasing the number of positions that foreign workers are eligible for, the government plans to steadily increase the number of permits issued year, reaching 165,000 in 2025. The Italian government will welcome skilled employees such as plumbers, nurses, bus drivers, mechanics, and fishermen. Some permits will be reserved for workers from countries that sign deals to fight illegal migration. Quotas are ‘a surrender’ Ms Meloni faced accusations of hypocrisy after the plan was announced. She is the leader of the Brothers of Italy, which has neo-fascist roots. She has defended Rishi Sunak’s migrant deal with Rwanda, while her ally Matteo Salvini, of the hard-Right League, has painted non-European migrants as a threat to Italian culture. Laura Boldrini, of the centre-Left Democratic Party, said the high quotas were a surrender and “a bitter dose of reality for those who have built their political careers by demonising immigration as a national security threat.” Ms Meloni has targeted NGOs rescuing people at sea as a way of reducing the number of illegal migrants reaching Italy. She was criticised in February after at least 94 drowned when a boat sank just metres from the Italian coast. In November last year, she turned away a charity-run ship carrying 230 rescued migrants from an Italian port. The boat eventually docked in France. Ms Meloni has pushed for tougher EU action to fight illegal migration, including deals with North African countries to speed up returns. Overnight on Friday, 230 migrants landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean, which is a major entry point for migrants into Europe. Coast guard patrol boats rescued the migrants from six small boats.