Italian Politician Hosts Three Nigerian Refugees In Her Home. the politician and her sister are offering housing for Mercy, 32, Favour, 34, and Augustina, 35

Giovanna Martelli, a member of Parliament for the Italian Left, has taken in three refugees from Nigeria who arrived in Italy by boat last year after long and arduous trips. “We politicians must lead by example,” Martelli told HuffPost Italy.
 

According to Washington Post, the politician and her sister are offering housing for Mercy, 32, Favour, 34, and Augustina, 35, until they hear back about their asylum applications. Their last names are being withheld for their safety.

Martelli, who has been hosting the women since last September, said she wanted to help female refugees “because women are the most vulnerable, and can easily wind up in criminal trafficking networks that promote prostitution,” she said.

Mercy, Favour and Augustina decided to leave Nigeria and head for Europe, crossing the Sahara before coming across nightmarish scenes in Libya — where there are currently about 235,000 refugees and migrants. Then they took the risky journey across the Mediterranean on a refugee boat.

They didn’t know what to expect —  but they certainly didn’t predict that would end up in Martelli’s home in Mantua, in the northern Italian region of Lombardy.

“They didn’t know one another, but now they happily live together in complete harmony in the apartment above my house,” the Italian politician said. 

Washington Post reported