754 People Granted Refugee Status in Luxembourg in 2021

On Monday 7 February 2022, Luxembourg's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Jean Asselborn, presented an overview of the asylum and immigration situation in the Grand Duchy for 2021.

Last year, a total of 1,249 people submitted an application for international protection in Luxembourg. This represents a slight increase compared to 2020, during which 1,165 people submitted an application for international protection. The number of applications submitted in 2021 remained significantly lower than the number of applications submitted before the COVID-19 pandemic, which made the travel of third-country nationals more difficult.

People who applied for international protection in Luxembourg in 2021 mainly came from Syria, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iraq and Sudan. More specifically, 392 Syrian nationals (31.4% of all applications), 255 Eritrean nationals (20.4%), 117 Afghan nationals (9.4%), 50 Iraqi nationals (4%) and 40 Sudanese nationals (3.2%) submitted applications for international protection in the Grand Duchy last year.

Minister Asselborn noted that, contrary to what had been expected, there was no significant increase in applications submitted by Afghan nationals after the Taliban takeover in August 2021. The number of Afghan nationals who submitted an application for international protection in Luxembourg has certainly increased, but, according to the minister, this increase was above all in the context of the evacuation efforts following the takeover. Among these applicants were individuals particularly at risk of becoming victims of persecution or serious harm in their country of origin, respectively people who had a link with the Grand Duchy.

Regarding applications for international protection processed in 2021, there were a total of 1,473 decisions taken on asylum seekers. Among these were 898 decisions granting international protection, 754 people being granted refugee status and 144 being granted the status of subsidiary protection.

288 Eritrean nationals, 258 Syrian nationals and 81 Afghan nationals were granted refugee status, which corresponds to more than 80% of decisions granting refugee status issued in 2021.

A total of 275 applications for international protection were rejected. There were also 222 transfer decisions, 57 inadmissibility decisions and one decision to revoke the status.

Moreover, 56 unaccompanied minors submitted an application for international protection in Luxembourg in 2021. This is a higher figure compared to previous years. Afghanistan remained the first country of origin as in previous years, closely followed by Eritrea and Syria.

As part of the application of the Dublin III regulation (an EU regulation that determines the country responsible for deciding an asylum claim), 222 transfer decisions were notified to applicants for international protection in 2021. At the same time, 83 people residing illegally in Luxembourg were notified of a transfer decision to the member state responsible for their application for international protection.