MILAN -- A Milanese family with two children, aged 8 and 11, were evicted from their apartment in the Italian business capital on Monday after protesting for days with housing activists in front of Palazzo Marino, the mayor's office, according to the Lapresse news agency. 

 The father of the two children, Sadek, had been protesting alongside Asia Usb union, the tenants and inhabitants association, and the student collective "Change Course" for the last few days.  

 Sadek is of Egyptian origins and has Italian citizenship. He could no longer pay rent and had contacted the city's Municipality two months ago, informing them of the situation, where he was told that they would book a hotel for his family for 10 days. 

 "Until then I won't move from here," Sadek said, from under tents in front of the Palazzo. "We've been talking about this situation for two months, the children are tired, we don't know what to do. What is happening to me is happening to other people. The Municipality will have to find a solution for these people." 

 As of Monday afternoon, the Municipality was in the process of creating agreements with a hotel to address the family's housing emergency: the first step in addressing a wider problem that exists far beyond Sadek's family alone. 

 Asia Usb said in an online statement that they are "giving the Municipality time, until the end of the current week, after which, given the urgency of the questions raised, we will be forced to promote new actions against the municipal administration."  

 The Asia Usb association has been working since 2010 to defend the rights of tenants and inhabitants. As of late, they have been focusing on increasing public housing in Milan, one of the Italian cities with the highest cost of living. On Friday, they conducted a march in Milan's Piazza della Scala to defend Sadek's family. 

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