'We need European solutions'

(CS/mig) Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn has called for “European solutions” to the current migrant crisis, saying that there should be additional registration centres and a list of safe countries.

Asselborn spoke at a press conference on Monday, saying that the current wave of asylum seekers was the biggest since the Second World War.

He said that it was key to be able to register migrants upon their arrival in the EU, adding that additional capacity was needed in countries struggling with the intake, such as Greece. Additional registration centres should also be created in Serbia and Macedonia, he said. This would help immediately establish whether asylum seekers qualify for international protection.

A list of safe countries, which the European Commission is expected to table in September, could help with this process. Asselborn said that the Balkan countries that are candidates for EU accession should be on this list. At the same time, he admitted that there were some minorities in the countries that need more specific protection.

At the same time, Asselborn slammed Hungary for erecting a barbed-wire fence on its border to Serbia to keep out refugees, saying that this was in violation of the Geneva convention. “We need European solutions, not national ones,” he said.

Faster procedures

In Luxembourg, a majority of applicants comes from the Balkans, with only a slim chance of being granted asylum.

Additionally, the Foreign Minister said that applications should be processed faster. This would help avoid situations in which families integrate in the country only to have to return home because their application was denied.

This applies especially to applicants from the Balkans, which make up the majority of asylum seekers in Luxembourg and while have only a slim chance of being granted international protection.

Between January and August, 463 applicants who had their request denied by Luxembourg authorities returned to their country of origin. Some 149 had to be forcibly deported. The number of asylum seekers arriving in Luxembourg increased by 21 percent in the first eight months of 2015 compared to last year.

Especially the number of Syrians has increased, with 102 individuals seeking asylum in the Grand Duchy. Additionally, Luxembourg has granted refugee status to a number of refugees transferred to the country from camps in Turkey and Jordan.