On Tuesday evening, four government Ministers concluded the last of the four information sessions with residents of Steinfort municipality, having previously met with residents in Diekirch, Junglinster and Mamer, on plans to house refugees inthose four municipalities.

Each municipality is preparing to provide accommodation for 300 refugees (up to 600 in exceptional circumstances) using container housing units up to 2 stories high. This is the result of the Luxembourg government's approval on 11 September this year of a copcept by the NCPN and OLAI which address the need for provional structures for emergency welcome for refugees fleeing civil wars in Iraq and Syria, many of whom are coming to the EU through Turkey.

Organisations such as Caritas collect and distribute clothing and organise music and other activities for refugees currently in the Grand Duchy.

Corinne Cahen, Minister for Family and Integration, François Bausch, Minister of Sustainable Development and Infrastructure, Dan Kersch, Minister for the Interior, and Claude Meisch, Minister for Education, Children and Youth, and for Higher Education and Research, all addressed the 300-strong group of residents.

The public dialogue phase will conclude on 23 December, following which the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Infrastructure will send their observations to the municipalities by 6 January 2016, giving them 3 months to send feedback to the ministry. The project will then be ruled upon.

The container accommodation units will be fully equipped for electricity, heating and plumbing, with other services including playgrounds integrated into the areas. One the refugees have their applications for asylum accepted, they would then be housed in other municialities across the Grand Duchy.

The residents asked various questions prompting dialogue on topics such as ecological surveys being carried out on the zoned lands, education for the refugees' children, the concern of the areas turning into ghettoes, the process of asylum applications, the OLAI welcome contracts, etc. In Steinfort's case, one specific concern was that if 600 refugees are housed in that municipality, it would put a huge strain on the administrative resources as the current population is currently around 1,800.

The locations proposed are as follows:

- Diekirch: near the Haerebierg car-park

- Junglinster: near the Lënster Lycée

- Mamer: near the European School II and Lycée Josy Barthel

- Steinfort: at the back of the Park&Ride at the former train station

Photos by Geoff Thompson; illustrations from the MDDI