New asylum seeker home in Sanem

(CS/na) As the European Commission is expected to present a refugee quota plan, efforts in Luxembourg to welcome asylum seekers are also moving ahead, with a new home planned in Sanem.

The project, offering room for 66 people, is expected to replace an older asylum seeker centre near the Sanem castle, which has been accommodating between 30 and 40 refugees at a time over the past years. The conditions at the current home are “proper, but not good,” mayor Georges Engel explained.

A request by the Family Ministry several years ago to build a new structure which could welcome more asylum seekers was answered with “yes” by the commune.

“Refugees often have a bad reputation, but they didn't do anything,” Engel commented. “These people lived through terrible things and if they had to flee, then not, because they had a good time, but because their life was at risk,” he added, saying that welcoming asylum seekers and refugees was “a must.” 

The home will be built along Rue du Château, opposite the Cité Lamesch residential area and the mayor does not expect any problems with local residents. There have been asylum seekers living in the commune for years, he said, without any major issues. While there is no open rejection, the two populations do not mix either, however, he added.

The project for the new asylum seeker centre was first presented at the commune in December 2013 without objections from residents. Last week, the communal council greenlighted the purchase of land where the new home will be built.

Engel could not yet say when the home would finally open, as this also has to be negotiated with welcome and integration office OLAI, that will manage the premises. 

A decision on what to do with the old home has not yet been reached, although Engel said that he believes it should be torn down. In its place he envisions an open air stage for events at the castle.