120-Bed Reception Centre for Asylum Seekers Inaugurated in Kirchberg

The inauguration of a new reception centre for asylum seekers in Luxembourg-Kirchberg took place on Wednesday 4 January 2023.

This temporary accommodation structure for applicants for international protection opened its doors at 1 Rue Nicolas Clasen in Luxembourg-Kirchberg at the end of December 2022. The inauguration took place on 4 January 2023 in the presence of Luxembourg's Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Jean Asselborn, as well as Maurice Bauer, alderman of the City of Luxembourg, Katrijn Van Damme, district manager of Fonds Kirchberg, Luxembourg Red Cross officials including Jenny Cardoso, supervisor of the reception centre, and Yves Piron, director of the National Reception Office (Office national de l'accueil - ONA).

The centre was built in collaboration with the Public Building Administration, taking into consideration the accessibility criteria for people with reduced mobility. With a maximum capacity of 120 beds, the centre will be managed by the Luxembourg Red Cross and will accommodate a mixed population, namely families and single men and women. Sanitary facilities, a laundry room, an activity room and canteens will be shared between the occupants of the centre. Applicants for international protection will be able to cook on site and the site will be served by a grocery store on wheels. This is a so-called "temporary" structure under 24/7 supervision, in which asylum seekers stay until they receive a response to their application for international protection.

Minister Asselborn thanked the partners of ONA, the Luxembourg Red Cross and Caritas Luxembourg, the municipal authorities of the City of Luxembourg as well as the managers of Fonds Kirchberg for their contribution to the collective efforts aimed at welcoming applicants for international protection to Luxembourg.

The minister also announced the forthcoming opening of other accommodation facilities in the first quarter of 2023: in Luxembourg-Hollerich, the centre on Rue de Bouillon (formerly Creos) will have 20 additional beds thanks to the development of an annex, while the centre on Rue Laurent Ménager in Luxembourg-Pfaffenthal will open its doors with a maximum capacity of 39 beds. Similarly, the centre on Rue Victor Hugo in Differdange will increase ONA's accommodation capacity by 23 beds following renovation work. In Luxembourg-Kirchberg, block C1 of the "T Building" will open in January 2023 with 156 additional beds, increasing the building's maximum capacity to 1,167 beds.

While at the end of 2014, ONA had a maximum capacity of 2,185 beds, as of 31 December 2022, it had a building stock with a maximum capacity of 7,367 beds. The maximum number of beds has thus more than tripled in the space of seven years.

To deal with any new emergency situations, Hall 7 of Luxexpo in Luxembourg-Kirchberg will be available from the beginning of January to the end of February 2023, with a maximum capacity of 350 camp beds in tents. This was made possible through ONA's collaboration with the High Commission for National Protection, Luxexpo The Box, the Luxembourg Army, the Grand Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps (CGDIS) and the City of Luxembourg. Hall 7 of Luxexpo will serve as an alternative accommodation in the event of the temporary unavailability of other structures, such as the Tony Rollman first reception centre. Minister Asselborn is also in discussions with the municipal authorities of the City of Ettelbruck in order to set up a possible new accommodation structure in the hall of the vaccination centre.

ONA currently manages 55 accommodation facilities for applicants for international protection with a maximum accommodation capacity of 4,886 beds. Even if the flow of new arrivals had fallen slightly since the start of the COVID-19 health crisis, it has experienced an upward curve since the summer of 2022, so that reception capacities remain very limited with an occupancy rate in temporary accommodation structures of 87.9%. A total of 4,295 people were housed in this network of ONA structures as of 30 December 2022.

In addition to the accommodation network for applicants for international protection, ONA is also in charge of eleven accommodation structures for beneficiaries of temporary protection, i.e. people who fled the war in Ukraine. These eleven accommodation structures have a maximum capacity of 1,881 beds and the net occupancy rate is currently 75.2%; a total of 1,178 beneficiaries of temporary protection were housed in the ONA structures as of 30 December 2022.

The temporary protection of people who fled the war in Ukraine will be extended from 4 March 2023 to 4 March 2024. The procedure for the extension of the temporary protection status set up in Luxembourg will start on 4 January 2023 and all persons benefiting from protection have been or will be asked to go to the one-stop shop for the extension of their status.

Minister Asselborn reiterated his appeal to municipalities to participate in the solidarity effort and to make sites available for the construction or development of accommodation structures for applicants for international protection. Several financial and administrative aids are available for municipalities hosting applicants for or beneficiaries of international protection.