The brand-new Reception Centre, which will be the first temporary residence for applicants for international protection upon their arrival in the Grand Duchy, is located in route d'Arlon in Luxembourg City.
The building, previously used for commercial purposes, has an effective area of over 4,000 square metres spread over three floors. Some rooms are specially equipped for people with reduced mobility. The building also has shared bathrooms, playrooms for children, a computer room, and a laundry room.
At the end of January, the structure will be ready to welcome its first residents.
The National Reception Office (ONA) manages 54 facilities with a total of approximately 4,100 beds, and currently has 3,300 people in its care. In 2020, 1,755 people reached out to ONA. As of 30 November, 1,020 refugees had applied for asylum.
43% of those who are accommodated in one of ONA's facilities have already been granted refugee status but are unable to find accommodation.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean Asselborn expressed regret over the fact that over the past six months, the European Union has not moved one millimetre forward on a common line in terms of refugee reception policy. The images are similar to those seen one year ago, including those of the Greek camp of Moria.
Only a few European states are willing to help the Greeks, among them Luxembourg. The Minister listed what the Grand Duchy had done this year in this context:
Regarding relocation, Luxembourg had committed itself to relocate 25 vulnerable people in 2020 - mainly unaccompanied minors and families - from refugee camps in Greece. The Grand Duchy agreed to take care of 31 people through the Dublin procedure. In addition, since the beginning of the year, Luxembourg authorities have decided not to launch the Dublin procedure for 74 people for whom Greece would have been responsible under the regulation in question. Luxembourg has therefore taken charge of a total number of 130 people for whom Greece would have been responsible.
Asselborn stressed that if other European Union States had made efforts in the same proportion as Luxembourg, the EU would not find itself in the situation it is in today.
