“We lived like savages, like animals”, says one migrant. He is a friend of Bobb Alagiee, another migrant who was placed in the same squalid reception centre. After his pleas for medical attention were ignored, Bobb set fire to a mattress in protest; in retaliation the owner, Carmine Della Gatta, shot him in the face. Now on trial for attempted manslaughter, the profitability of the centre for the local businessman came to light. Many have seized on the opportunity to make a quick euro, and ties to the mafia run deep. “There is a popular saying: ‘Migrants are worth more than drugs’”, explains Italian MP Erasmo Palazzotto. Corruption has even extended to NGOs such as Misericordia, one of Italy’s oldest and most influential charities. “Feeding the hungry and clothing the naked is our core business”, says former Vice-President Giuseppe De Stefano. Yet he discovered money allotted for services to migrants was being diverted to fill private pockets, and upon exposing the racket found himself ostracised. Although some prosecutions have been made, the charity continues to operate. The mafia is simply too powerful to resist.