Here's a look at life among the "invisibles" of Rome's Via Raffaele Costi, where immigrants and Italians live together in poverty and institutional abandonment.
In the building occupied by squatters in Via Raffaele Costi, new arrivals are greeted by piles of rubbish taller than themselves. One can hear the sounds of children playing. This building, hidden in the undergrowth in Rome's Tor Cervara neighbourhood on the eastern outskirts of the city, is inhabited by families from around the world: Italians, Roma, Romanians, African migrants and some refugees as well. They live together, helping one another fight the one thing that unites them all: poverty.
The building is completely surrounded by piles of rubbish of all types. In some areas, the smell is unbearable. There are about 20 families living here, all of different nationalities: three Italian women with one young boy, a community of Roma with children - one of whom is only 20 days old - and a community of African migrants, some of whom are refugees with children.
"A rubbish dump has surrounded this building for years. The residents are willing to pay to have the rubbish removed, even though they are destitute, but it's all still here," said Federica Borlizzi from the Alterego Fabbrica dei Diritti (Factory of Rights) Association. The group, together with another called Nonna Roma, has brought school supplies and nappies for the children. On August 30, there was a rubbish fire here that surrounded the building and forced residents to evacuate. Borlizzi said civil protection workers and fire fighters "intervened, but then they left the rubbish and abandoned the people present - about a hundred."
The building was seized and the City of Rome made spaces available to receive only women and children, without protecting family units, according to Borlizzi. So residents went back to living in the building, which has been declared condemned.
"What's happening in Rome is the worst human rights violation in recent years," the social worker added. Residents wrote an open letter to Mayor Virginia Raggi asking for a meeting, but they haven't yet had a concrete response.
The voices of the residents
The community of Nigerians living in the building numbers about 20 people. One of them is A., 27, who arrived in Italy by boat about a year ago. "I requested asylum but they didn't accept my request," he said. "I regret coming to Italy. I'm not happy; we don't have water or electricity," he said.
Obadah is 32 and arrived in Italy from Nigeria in 2013. "I've lived here for a year," he said. "I'm ok, but we don't have electricity or water and we want them to take the rubbish away," he said. Obadah is a documented refugee with his papers in order. "Sending us away from this place isn't the solution; we live here like brothers, but we need assistance. I can't manage to find work, if I had (a job) I wouldn't still live here," he said.
Enrico is Italian and has been living here for four years with his wife and 6-year-old son, after having lost everything due to his father's debts. His son just started elementary school in recent days. "Here we're one family with different ethnicities. Poverty doesn't have a color, and we're asking for a solution for everyone, but above all for our children, who can't live here any longer," he said.