The smuggler and the squat

The door is closed with a padlock and chain, but something is moving inside Beyond the wall of the former Alagon school in via Abruzzi, shadows can be glimpsed and noises can be heard.

A makeshift passage in the tampered network, a white chair under an open window and a bin full of water in the one next to it are the unmistakable sign that someone lives there The report received in recent days to the municipal councilor, Marcello Polastri, soon finds confirmation in the words of one of the abusive tenants of the structure.

From one of those open windows, Aiad Mohamed Sherif, 32, escaped from his homeland, Libya, where he - he says - was sentenced to life imprisonment A girl and a boy, on the other hand, leave in a hurry.

"There are four of us, me and my girlfriend and two other boys," says the young man, «we don't have any money and not even a place to stay and so we have, for the moment, settled down here I worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant in via Dante, but after the summer it closed and I found myself with nothing».

Before occupying the former school, Sherif says he lived in an apartment in Quartu and in another in the San Michele district: «They sent us away because our landlady no longer paid the bills and they disconnected everything, so from one moment to the next I found myself without a job and without a home My girlfriend, to be able to recover two coins, is forced to work on the street ».

He shows her identity card, but he is almost unrecognizable: his hair is now long, hidden under a blue cap and her beard is unkempt On her cheek she has big scar.

He arrived in Cagliari almost eight years ago, crossing the Mediterranean on a boat «I have three scars on my body, they are the sign of the tortures suffered in my country.

They even shot me, but I survived I decided to escape so as not to end up in prison.

There were 29 people in the boat, including women and children When I arrived at the port of Cagliari, the police immediately arrested me: I was driving it.

They took me to Uta and I stayed there for four years» To continue reading or if you are already a subscriber.

• Access premium articles • Browse the newspaper from all devices The door is padlocked and chained, but something is moving inside Beyond the wall of the former Alagon school in via Abruzzi, shadows can be glimpsed and noises can be heard.

A passage of luck in the tampered network, a white chair under an open window and a bin full of water in the one next to it are the unmistakable sign that someone lives there The report received in recent days to the municipal councilor, Marcello Polastri, soon finds confirmation in the words of one of the abusive tenants of the structure.

From one of those open windows, Aiad Mohamed Sherif, 32, escaped from his homeland, Libya, where he - he says - was sentenced to life imprisonment A girl and a boy, on the other hand, leave in a hurry.

«Four of us live here, my girlfriend and I and two other boys», says the young man, «we have no money and not even a place to stay and so here we are, settle down here for the time being I worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant in via Dante, but after the summer it closed and I found myself with nothing».

Before occupying the former school, Sherif says he lived in an apartment in Quartu and in another in the San Michele district: «They sent us away because our landlady no longer paid the bills and they disconnected everything, so from one moment to the next I found myself without a job and without a home My girlfriend, to be able to recover two coins, is forced to work on the street ».

She shows her identity card, but it is almost unrecognizable: her hair is now long, hidden under a blue cap and her beard is unkempt On her cheek she has big scar.

He arrived in Cagliari almost eight years ago, crossing the Mediterranean on a boat «I have three scars on my body, they are the sign of the tortures suffered in my country.

They even shot me, but I survived I decided to escape so as not to end up in prison.

There were 29 people in the boat, including women and children When I arrived at the port of Cagliari, the police immediately arrested me: I was driving it.

They took me to Uta and I stayed there for four years» He really wants to tell his story about him.

Perhaps he is also aware that he cannot stay in that structure that he has illegally occupied together with his friends, but he claims he has no choice «It's not even a problem of money, those can be recovered.

I don't have a contract who can give me a house or a job? I can do the dishwasher, I've done this since I arrived in Cagliari, but I don't want groups of people to come here, we're calm now», he doesn't finish the sentence, his gaze gets lost in a Fiat Punto which stops abruptly in front of the school "Hi," Sherif says, and disappears again .