Italy unveils plan to better integrate fewer migrants

The Italian government on Wednesday unveiled a series of measures aimed at easing the crush of migrants pouring into the country, including a new push at integration.

But the plan also calls for fresh efforts to curb the influx, and to expel migrants whose asylum applications are rejected.

"We have to welcome and integrate those who have a right to stay, and send home the others," interior minister Marco Minniti told a parliamentary commission.

Asylum seekers will also be asked to earn their keep by working with little or no pay on civic projects, such as maintaining parks, giving language classes or helping the Red Cross.

The programme has already been tested over the past months in the northern town of Belluno, but in a country where youth unemployment is around 40 percent, many regional councils are bristling at the plan, saying they should be giving jobs to their own citizens.

Labour unions officials have said the project exploits the migrants, a concern echoed by refugee advocates.

More than 500,000 migrants have entered Italy since 2014, and nearly 175,000 asylum seekers are waiting in reception centres.

The government plans to distribute migrants more evenly across the country, with a goal of 2.5 migrants to every 1,000 residents.

It will provide a total of 100 million euros ($107 million) to municipalities accepting to increase their share of migrants.

But the new measures will go hand in hand with a new push to deport migrants who fail to qualify for asylum, and stronger border patrols.

Currently, reviews of asylum requests take six months on average, and about 40 percent of the requests are approved.

But for those who fail to qualify, an appeal process can take up to two years.

To speed up the process, a new legal authority will be created for refugees contesting a refusal of asylum.