Luxembourg is in need of more infrastructure to take in further refugees. The Luxembourg Reception and Integration Agency (OLAI) said it was not yet an acute problem, but currently 270 asylum seekers arrive per month, and there are a number of families with refugee status struggling to find housing.
OLAI estimate around 1000 additional beds would be required over the next 2-3 years. Municipalities have been asked to put land at their disposal for new structures, to anticipate the issue before it becomes critical.
Just 10 ares are required to build a structure which could host up to 33 people as a provisional home. The cost of building and maintaining these homes is covered by the Public Buildings Association.
Yves Piron, director of OLAI, said it was crucial they put the infrastructure in place, as building the modules can be a long process of 9 months.
Each structure will have a security guard to note who enters and who leaves, as well as taking on some concierge duties.
Every floor has a community room with a shared kitchen for residents, as well as shared bathrooms. There are not many housing structures of this type in the Grand Duchy, although some opened in Bridel over the summer.
There are currently 2,954 refugees living in Luxembourg in 56 different buildings, spread across 32 municipalities. The capital hosts the most refugees by far, followed by 299 in Sanem and 280 in Diekirch.
Yves Piron said following a recent appeal to municipalities, only two had expressed interest in helping create more buildings. He said some of the smaller municipalities did not have sufficient land, but if they had small houses or buildings, it would be feasible to repurpose these into refugee facilities.
Over the years, it seemed that municipalities that have already had experiences with asylum seekers, are often more open to welcome new ones.
The appeal to the municipalities will be repeated in the autumn. According to OLAI forecasts, 30 modules are expected to be built in the next two to three years.
(video in Luxembourgish)
