Italy narrows asylum rights in new clampdown on immigration

FILE PHOTO: Rescued migrants look out to sea on the Geo Barents rescue ship, operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), as the ship makes its way to the Italian port of Bari, in the central Mediterranean Sea March 25, 2023. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi/File Photo

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's nationalist government approved a bill in the upper house of parliament on Thursday that aims to reduce the number of migrants who can claim some form of asylum and curb integration efforts.

The bill, which still needs the approval of the lower house to become law, was drawn up after a shipwreck off southern Italy in February that killed more than 90 migrants.