Foreign Minors: Funding Cuts: Government and Opposition Complicit

Concerns continue to be raised about the impact of the Ministry of the Interior's circular, which, at the end of June 2025, changed the rules for reimbursement of expenses for unaccompanied foreign minors . Essentially, only 35% of the funds municipalities have advanced for the reception of unaccompanied foreign minors will be reimbursed.

Helping to maintain high levels of concern is the strong intervention of Agostino Sella , president of the Don Bosco 2000 association , which is involved in various reception projects in Sicily , as well as international cooperation initiatives in Africa, particularly Senegal: "The Italian government has decided to cut by 65% the reimbursements for unaccompanied foreign minors. This is a very serious decision that risks, in a few months, leaving hundreds of children we care for every day on the streets. We're not talking about numbers, but about lives: children who are studying, who we support in training and job placement programs, who have the right to a dignified future."

Mayors protest cuts to the fund for unaccompanied foreign minors.

What is striking and hurtful, Sella adds, is the substantial silence of the political class: "Our political class is absent. The government operates with a propaganda machine that shifts responsibility and costs onto municipalities, many of which—especially in the South—are already in financial difficulty or on the verge of bankruptcy. The opposition, with a few exceptions such as the unions, maintains a deathly silence. We are faced with an issue that is not being addressed because it is considered risky for electoral consensus: and so they prefer to remain silent, avoiding explaining the causes of migration and the rights of these minors," Sella adds.

What's being affected and interrupted, in fact, isn't experimental work: "Shifting 65% of the centers' operating costs to municipalities is madness. This isn't just a 'basic reception,' but a complex and structured effort: we provide literacy, academic support, a multidisciplinary team, and placement in companies that need workers. These costs are higher than those of hosting an adult, but they're investments in these kids' futures and, by extension, in our country."

It's a question of mentality and organizational capacity: "Centralizing costs doesn't mean damaging public spending, but rather responding to the real needs of local communities, which only local administrators understand. Today, however, we're witnessing a political operation that sacrifices the most vulnerable on the altar of propaganda, while too many politicians think more about their own positions than the good of the country," Sella concludes.

Opening photo, some young volunteers from the Aidone community (Enna), managed by the Don Bosco 2000 association, which also hosts many unaccompanied foreign minors.

Tags:
• welcome
• Government
• third sector