legal and social conditions for asylum seekers and refugees in ...

SOCIAL CONDITIONS FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS
Asylum seekers, like Convention refugees and persons under temporary protection, are entitled
to benefits from the Social Department of the Government’s Commission for Aliens
(“Commissariat du Gouvernement aux Etrangers” – CGE). These include financial assistance,
accommodation and payment of medical expenses, as well as language courses and information
on different aspects of life in Luxembourg.
In the NGO field, the Refugee Department of Caritas assists asylum seekers and refugees both
during and after the procedure.
Accommodation
Once they have registered their application with the Ministry of Justice’s Refugee Reception
Office, asylum seekers are referred to the CGE, where they have an interview with a social
worker in order to evaluate their needs in terms of accommodation, basic support and health
care.
Upon arrival, single males may be provided with emergency accommodation in shelters for
homeless persons, including the Luxembourg City’s reception shelter or the Caritas night shelter.
During this period, families are usually accommodated in hostels or in the youth hostel. This kind
of emergency accommodation is provided free of charge unless asylum seekers have their own
means.
Asylum seekers who have no family members living in Luxembourg are then offered
accommodation in one of the CGE's reception centres or one of the centres run by NGOs, such
as Caritas and the Red Cross. In addition, there is an increasing practice of accommodating
applicants in hostels (either rooms or small apartments). In some very rare cases, applicants may
find private accommodation and have the rent paid by the CGE.
Depending on the type of accommodation provided, applicants receive full board, half board or
can cook meals on their own.
Although no refugee is left without accommodation, conditions in the reception centres are not
always optimal: single males may be requested to share rooms, in some cases men are
separated from their families and must share a room with other men, and women and children
may have to live in very cramped conditions, separated from each other by wardrobes or sheets.
According to the Law of 27 July 1993 regarding the integration of aliens in the Grand Duchy of
Luxembourg and the social assistance available to them, accommodation in the reception centres
is, in principle, on a temporary basis and may not exceed two years. In some cases, an extension
of a further two years may be granted. This may, “on an exceptional basis and for serious
reasons”, be further renewed. However, since the necessary regulation has not yet been
adopted, in practice these time limits do not apply. Admission to the reception centres is decided
by the CGE. Accommodation is, in principle, free of charge, unless the applicant has his/her own
resources. In the centres run by NGOs, asylum seekers may be required to pay a contribution to
the costs.
At the end of 1999, 701 asylum seekers were accommodated in ten centres run by the CGE, 352
in centres rented by the CGE, 1,319 were staying in hostels and pensions and 15 applicants were
living in the Caritas centre.
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Luxembourg