EU support to manage asylum seekers

(CS) Immigration minister Nicolas Schmit signed an agreement with the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) in Copenhagen on Thursday, bringing support for dealing with asylum applications in Luxembourg.

The agreement foresees European experts coming to the Grand Duchy to assist civil servants processing asylum seeker applications.

Signed at the informal meeting of EU interior and justice ministers in Copenhagen, the accord is another step in managing the influx of asylum seekers to Luxembourg.

After last year's record wave of applicants, the immigration ministry has hired additional staff, and the EASO experts are expected to train employees, especially in interviewing techniques and decision-making structures, a press statement by EASO says.

Some 2,000 refugees applied for asylum in 2011, four times more the amount from 2009. Problems with accommodation and the speed of processing applications came under sharp criticism.

A quota regulation on the distribution of asylum seekers in Luxembourg's communes while their applications are assessed is currently also under debate.