The water and gas had been shut off for days when Lessena M and his flatmates, a group of asylum seekers from Ivory Coast who have been living in Naples for more than a year, decided to stage a protest.
They began throwing rubbish bins and an old orange sofa over the balcony of their flat while neighbours gathered in the street to watch. Then the police arrived, seemingly dismayed that the owner of the flat had not yet turned the water back on. Without working plumbing, the stench in the property had become intolerable. Lessena, 34, said even the boy who brought them their food every day in a plastic pouch – always pasta – had stopped coming...