Asylum office to close temporarily

(JB) Luxembourg's asylum office is to temporarily close after the country experienced an influx of “asylum tourism”.

According to immigration minister Nicolas Schmit, a flood of new arrivals last week exceeded his team's capacities, forcing them to close up shop.

The minister said that in just two days the immigration department dealing with applications from asylum seekers received 110 new applications.

“We are a small country, we have worked hard,” the minister explained. “It is possible that those who really need asylum will be penalised, but what we are seeing is a trend in asylum tourism and it must stop!”

Mr Schmit will be shortly travelling to Macedonia and Serbia, natives of which account for among the largest group of asylum seekers in Luxembourg.

According to the ministry for immigration, 1,274 applications for asylum were received in Luxembourg from January to August this year, three times more than in 2007 and 2008. 42% of applicants were from Serbia and 17.03% from Macedonia.