Syrian arrivals should take comfort in Luxembourg’s history

by Sarita Rao  

For the second  article for her 'L word' column on wort.lu/en, Sarita Rao examines how Luxembourg is no stranger in receiving refugees with a very colourful past and in fact way back in the past, many Luxembourgers themselves emigrated from the country.

Whilst browsing Facebook last week, amongst a sea of holiday photos I had an invite to welcome 50 Syrian refugees to Luxembourg.

It followed hot on the heels of several online articles, posts and blogs about Europe’s reaction to Syrian refugees arriving by boat, train, on foot and even on bicycles, and of course the heart-breaking picture of the small Syrian boy, lying face down on a Turkish beach.

The newswires and the web buzzed. People in Luxembourg rallied around with everything from donation depots, knitting groups and an initiative to collect unwanted hotel toiletries in Luxembourg. Luxembourger Wort even ran an article on how people could get involved or help.

It was journalism and social media at its best – people empowering themselves and others to be part of a solution (albeit a very last minute one from many governments). Of course, freedom of speech means that social media also gives voice to some creepy and downright hateful (and usually anonymous) views. But let’s not focus on the negative.

It did get me thinking about Luxembourg – a country with a history of absorbing cultures and people from around the world, with a 45% population of non-natives. Of course well-paid, middle-class EU and banking sector workers are hardly a hardship, but what was Luxembourg’s record on asylum seekers and low paid economic migrants?

A quick online search later, and I discover Luxembourg was welcoming Italian and German workers as far back as the 19th century when iron deposits were discovered. In the 1960s a wave of Portuguese immigrants came to the Duchy, many allowed to bring family. This would explain the proliferation of Portuguese restaurants and the fact I can buy bacalao in every supermarket.

In the 1990s it was conflict in the former Yugoslavia that brought some 2,000 Bosnians and people fleeing Southern Serbia and Northern Montenegro. Apparently 100 Macedonians were evacuated to Luxembourg and given resident and work permits, social assistance and the right to family reunification. None of the evacuees returned.

A delve further into the past uncovers that Luxembourgers themselves are no strangers to emigration. Following a series of bad harvests, the newly formed Duchy saw 72,000 of its population emigrate in the years 1841-1870. That amount may sound small today but the country’s total population was just 200,000. About 50,000 of them went to the United States. 

So history lesson aside, how well do immigrants fair here. Statistics on the asylum seekers who came in the 1990s suggest that many find the tri-lingual system hard, but very few choose to return to their home countries. It makes me marvel at how resilient people are.

I am an economic migrant to Luxembourg – coming on the coat tails of my husband’s job. My parents travelled from India to London for a better life. They braved the awful weather and (as my mother would say) the dreadful British food, so that their children might speak like BBC newsreaders.

Luxembourg’s latest arrivals should take comfort in the country’s history of opening its arms to new arrivals. Welcome Syrian refugees.

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