New Reception Centre for Asylum Seekers Opens Doors in Luxembourg-Gasperich

Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs has announced the opening of a new temporary accommodation structure (reception centre) for international protection applicants, located on Rue Christophe Plantin.

This new reception centre opened its doors on Monday 12 September 2022; the official inauguration took place on Friday 16 September 2022 in the presence of Luxembourg's Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Jean Asselborn, and Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg, as well as representatives of Lafayette SA and Yves Piron, Director of the National Reception Office (Office national de l'accueil - ONA).

Having been fitted out in recent months, the centre has a projected capacity of 197 beds. It is managed by Caritas and hosts a mixed population, namely families and single men and women. Sanitary facilities, laundry and refectory are shared between the occupants of the centre. Meals are prepared according to the latest nutritional science and delivered three times a day by a leading provider, according to Luxembourg's Foreign Ministry. This is a so-called "temporary" structure under 24/7 surveillance, in which international protection applicants stay until they receive a response to their application. Upon its opening, nineteen international protection applicants were relocated directly to the reception centre.

The ONA currently has 54 accommodation structures for international protection applicants with a maximum accommodation capacity of 4,466 beds. Whilst the influx of new arrivals had fallen slightly since the start of the COVID-19 health crisis, it has experienced an upward trend since this summer, meaning that reception capacities remain very limited with a rate of occupancy in temporary accommodation structures of 94.6%.

In this context, Minister Asselborn thanked Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich and the representatives of the Catholic Church for having made the said structure available, before reiterating his call for municipalities to participate in the solidarity effort and to make sites available for the construction or development of accommodation structures for international protection applicants (email: projets.immobiliers@ona.etat.lu). Several financial aid schemes are available for municipalities hosting applicants or beneficiaries of international protection on their territory.

In addition to the accommodation network for international protection applicants, the ONA also accommodates people who have fled the war in Ukraine in thirteen accommodation facilities. These structures have a maximum capacity of 1,952 beds and the net occupancy rate is currently 74.5%.