Italy's lower house of Parliament on Wednesday, October 15, greenlighted a motion filed by members of the ruling coalition regarding the memorandum between Italy and Libya to manage migration flows. The document was approved with 153 votes in favor, 112 against, and nine abstentions. The text highlights the need to continue pursuing a "national strategy to fight migrant traffickers and prevent departures from Libya, based on the 2017 Memorandum, by proceeding to renew it."
The conservative ruling coalition in the Lower House (Camera dei Deputati) has upheld the government's strategy regarding the renewal of a memorandum originally signed in 2017 by Libya and Italy under former center-left Democratic Party premier Paolo Gentiloni and interior minister Marco Minniti.
The agreement aims to boost cooperation between the two nations against human trafficking and departures from the African country. The motion presented by center-right MPs was approved by the House on Wednesday, October 15, with 153 votes in favor, 112 against, and nine abstentions, only thanks to members of the ruling coalition.
Opposition presents two motions, both failing to win approval
The government led by Premier Giorgia Meloni, which could have pulled out of the memorandum by November 2, has decided to renew it as part of efforts to battle migrant traffickers on the other shore of the Mediterranean. Conservative MPs thus voted in favor of the document backing the renewal of the agreement, which includes providing support to Libyan coast guards and cooperating on border patrols.
Members of the center-left opposition voted against the motion.
Meanwhile, eight years after the signature of the agreement with Libya promoted by the progressive government led by Gentiloni, members of the center-left coalition have partially changed their stance on the accord.
Indeed, the center-left filed two motions, which both failed to be approved by a majority of MPs. One was signed by the largest member of the opposition, the Democratic Party (PD), by the Green-Left Alliance (AVS), and by centrists Italia Viva and Più Europa. The other one was presented by the left-wing 5-Star Movement (M5S).
According to Paolo Emilion Russo, a member of the conservative Forza Italia party in the ruling coalition, the center-left's "reversal" on the memorandum is "surprising and an example of politics bending to what's more convenient at the moment, approving a measure when it is in government only to renegue it when it joins the ranks of the opposition."
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The motion and the controversy over the Almasri case
The motion signed by PD, AVS, Italia Viva, and Più Europa aimed to halt the automatic renewal of the memorandum, "immediately suspending any form of technical, material and operational cooperation implying the forced return of people to Libyan territory," or migrants being pushed back to Libya.
PD leader Elly Schlein on October 14 urged members of other political parties to "vote with us", citing the different approach used by the government in relation to the Almasri affair, the Libyan general accused of crimes against humanity who was first arrested and then released and repatriated by Italian authorities.
"They have yet to explain why they decided to free a Libyan torturer and take him back to Libya on a State flight, where he could continue to trample on the fundamental rights of people with murders and rapes of which he is accused by the International Criminal Court", accused Schlein.
The case regards Njeem Osama Almasri, who was arrested on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant at a hotel in Turin at dawn on January 19 and was returned to Tripoli on a State flight following his release on a technicality by a Rome appeals court on January 21.
Almasri, who was sacked as the head of Libya's judicial police last month, is accused of torture, rape and murder in relation to his management of a detention center in Tripoli.
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M5S: Monitor conditions in Libyan centers
According to the 5-Star Movement (M5S), the priority is to revise the memorandum, rather than scrap it, in order to ensure transparency in the use of national and European funds and to monitor conditions in Libyan centers, requesting in the meantime to halt its automatic renewal.
M5S lawmakers also attacked the center-right in the House.
"Immigration today isn't discussed anymore because TeleMeloni wants to hide its failure", said MP Alfonso Colucci, referring to alleged government propaganda.
"Nearly 300,000 migrants have landed in Italy since the Meloni government was sworn in, 54,380 as of October 14, 2025, up compared to 2024 - a total failure," said Colucci.