Luxembourg's "new" immigration system

(JB) A new system for channelling asylum requests has been launched in Luxembourg, following the temporary closure of the country's immigration office.

Immigration minister Nicolas Schmit announced the system changes in response to a parliamentary question asking why the office was closed to further applications from September 30 this year.

Mr Schmit explained that since January 2011 the country had received 1,550 asylum applications, a situation which he described as “exceptional”. The closure therefore allowed staff to deal with the backlog of applications.

“Because of this influx it is not possible for the staff to manage the workload.

Instead, I took the decision to temporarily close the reception office,” he said.

During the closure period the minister said that a new channelling system had been rolled out. As a result, newly arrived asylum seekers will be issued with a serial number indicating the date on which they will be invited to an interview. At the same time, they will be issued with a form to complete, which will reportedly speed up the procedure of opening a new file.

The minister was heavily criticised last month by a group of hunger striking Iraqi refugees, some of which had been waiting up to 18 months to have their first interview with immigration services.

The immigration ministry said the delays were caused by a staff shortage in relation to the unprecedented volume of applications.

In his response to the parliamentary question, Mr Schmit underlined that recruiting new staff would not result in any immediate improvements as they would need time to be trained.

The office closure in September was in part prompted by a report made to the minister for humanitarian action stating that a wave of new emigrants was planning to come to Luxembourg.