On Tuesday 6 August 2024, Luxembourg's Ministry of Home Affairs issued a statement in which it provided information linked to the readmission (return) to Greece of a Syrian family with refugee status.
The statement followed a press release issued by Passerell, a local non-profit organisation working to defend the rights of asylum seekers and refugees, on Monday 5 August 2024. The non-profit urged Luxembourg to respect a decision it said was made by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (OHCHR) in this case. It welcomed efforts to apparently halt the planned return of the refugee family to Greece.
In response, the ministry clarified that the letter of 26 July 2024 from the UN Human Rights Office was "simply a request for information and observations to the attention of the Ministry of Home Affairs".
The ministry explained that the family in question - two adults and five children, one of whom had cancer - submitted applications for international protection in Luxembourg on 17 December 2019.
According to the ministry, their applications were declared inadmissible as the seven family members already benefited from refugee status in Greece.
In January 2020, a sixth child was born in Luxembourg, for whom the parents also submitted an application for international protection. This application was declared unfounded by a ministerial decision of August 2023. The ministry added that the administrative courts confirmed these ministerial decisions in the last instance.
Regarding the child suffering from cancer, the ministry said that the Luxembourg authorities carried out a "detailed analysis" of the child's medical situation at the time of processing the application. This was confirmed by the Administrative Court in its judgment dated 3 August 2020, in which it was held that the child "was actually treated and cured by Greek doctors before his arrival in Luxembourg" and that "only follow-up is recommended, follow-up that can be carried out in Greece, where doctors have, moreover, his complete medical file".
In its judgment of 9 July 2024, the Luxembourg Administrative Court also confirmed that during their stay in Greece, the children were able to benefit from "adequate" medical care.
The ministry argued that since this date (9 July), all members of the family in question have been in Luxembourg "illegally" and are required to return to Greece. That being said, the ministry added that, at present, "no steps have been taken with a view to a possible removal of the family to Greece".
Passerell had argued on Monday that the refugee family had fled Greece "due to the inability to receive adequate healthcare", particularly for the child suffering from cancer, "as well as poor living conditions". It later added that "the reception conditions for refugees in Greece are extremely precarious and having obtained the status there does not guarantee respect for their rights, in particular respect for the best interests of the child".
