EUROPE/GERMANY - MISSION AND IMMIGRATION - “The Suitcase with a String”: “To the young women of Nigeria, I say: do not come. There is nothing here! They're only interested in selling your body.”

Dusseldorf (Agenzia Fides) – Prostitution and exploitation: immigration is not only a dramatic reality, but it has also brought to the surface an evil that is now enveloping the entire globe.
There are so many terrible stories from all over the world of young people, little more than children, who have fallen into this trap. In Germany, in a prison for people waiting to be expelled, one of the detained, a Nigerian woman, tells her story as a former prostitute and launches an appeal to the young people of her nation: “I came to Germany from Nigeria because I was living amidst difficulties. I wanted to stay in Germany, because in Africa I had a miserable life...When I reached Dusseldorf, I was told I had to pay 60,000 Euros. I worked from 11am to 5am the following morning. My clients told me “Why are you doing this? You are so young!” Did I have a choice? To the young women of Nigeria, I say: do not come to this country. There is nothing here! They're only interested in selling your body. Keep your dignity as women. The money? It will never be yours.” (Luca De Mata) (Anticipation for the television program “The Suitcase Tied with a String”: 4 episodes of a study on world immigration to be aired on the RAI beginning June 29) (Agenzia Fides 16/6/2009)