Italy plans to grant supplementary entry quotas to Pakistan and other countries that cooperate in curbing irregular migration, covering the three years from 2026 to 2028, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi announced after talks in Rome on September 17.

Piantedosi met Pakistan's Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Chaudhry Salik Hussain. The two ministers had previously met in Islamabad in May to discuss migration policy, quotas and possible legal routes to Italy.

"We are working on a new policy for migration flows that looks to the future of legal migration," Piantedosi said.

What did Italy promise Pakistan?

Piantedosi said Italy wants to reward countries that help it prevent irregular migration by offering them additional quotas, so their citizens can enter Italy through legal channels.

"Over the next three years from 2026-2028, we will continue to reward supplementary quotas for those countries that, like Pakistan, are making an effort to contrast irregular migration," he said.

He framed the pledge as a reward mechanism: cooperation on stopping irregular flows translates into more legal entry places for the cooperating country's nationals.

The exact size of the additional quotas was not specified in the announcement.

How is the cooperation structured?

The talks build on agreements signed during Italy's visit to Pakistan in May.

"The Memorandum on Migration and Mobility that we signed during my visit to Pakistan in May is developing into a more significant framework of our cooperation, based on stopping human smugglers and cooperation to favor training courses prior to departure," Piantedosi explained.

He also praised Islamabad's measures against irregular departure:

• A "zero tolerance" approach to illegal migration, which he said he shared with the Pakistani minister
• An awareness campaign highlighting the risks of clandestine migration
• Operational cooperation against human smugglers

"I am convinced that the political and operational dialog we have launched in recent months represents only the beginning of a common path with enormous potential," Piantedosi said.

What about the Albania repatriation centers?

On the same day, appearing as a guest on a TV show, Piantedosi defended the Italy-run repatriation centers in Albania. "They are needed and will be needed in the future: they are a first example of what Europe is trying to affirm," he said.

He described Albania as "an EU accession country candidate, a country which should be included in the EU."

Piantedosi said new European regulations on migration should enter into force next year, and that this would end the judicial issues that have so far hindered Italy's full use of the Albanian centers.

How many people are arriving in Italy?

The minister argued his government's policies are producing results when compared with 2023, the first year after the government took office.

"The numbers [of arrivals] diminished, and this figure was confirmed this year: we have a stable decrease that registers minus 60 percent compared to the figures of 2023," Piantedosi said.

Still, he said that "too many of them arrive, from my point of view," and that arriving migrants were "generating a lucrative business for smugglers."

Who is affected?

The announced policy concerns nationals of Pakistan and of any other country that cooperates with Italy on curbing irregular migration. For them, the change could mean more legal entry places to Italy between 2026 and 2028.

The details of how the supplementary quotas will be allocated — including numbers, eligibility criteria and application procedures — remain to be defined in Italy's forthcoming migration flow policy. Readers should follow official announcements from the Italian Interior Ministry and the annual flows decree for binding figures.