Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Jean Asselborn announced the decision in Brussels on Wednesday during a Justice and Home Affairs crisis meeting held by European authorities.
The refugees are currently housed in a camp on one of the Greek Aegean islands. Asselborn suggested that each member state of the EU accept a number of underage refugees to help lessen the strain on Greece while, at the same time, helping the situation of some of the migrants having arrived in Europe.
As the minister put it, "We should not play with the lives of people in a state of misery in the twenty-first century." Speaking to journalists, he added that Luxembourg knew it could not solve the issue on its own, but that his country could send a signal out to its European counterparts. European authorities have been in discussions since Christmas and these could last through to Easter, a situation Asselborn described as deplorable. He stressed the importance of helping the Greek authorities, but not only in a financial way.
Currently, more than 42,000 people are staying in refugee camps in the Aegean. According to the UN Refugee Agency, a third of these migrants are not yet adults. Tensions have been exacerbated and Greek infrastructures utterly overwhelmed after Turkey fully opened its borders.
The EU has accused Turkey's Erdogan administration of abusing the refugee crisis for political gain. European interior ministers have condemned the government of allowing illegal border crossings.
Foreign ministers of the EU will meet in Zagreb on Friday to discuss the military escalations in Syria, which notably caused the heightened tension between Turkey and the EU.
