They reproached the ministry for sending Iraqis back, and held signs asking “Mr Asselborn, help us”, “Stop expelling Iraqis please!”, “Iraqis search for peace, help us please” and “Luxembourg, dove of peace”.

The demonstration has to be seen in the context of the recent incident in a refugee home in Diekirch, where an Iraqi asylum seeker became disruptive because he believed he would not get the status of refugee and would be sent away.

The minister of immigration, Jean Asselborn, issued a statement on the matter on Thursday 21 December, stating that

“the person in question was granted international protection in October 2017. The decision to grant international protection could not, however, be notified immediately to the person concerned. he was staying illegally in the territory of another Member State and a “Dublin transfer” was necessary to transfer the person back to Luxembourg.”

It seems the person had not yet been issued the official documents, partly because they had not yet completed a series of administrative steps.

Being from Iraq is not automatically a reason to get the status of international protection “because the internal armed conflict is limited only to certain areas of the country. Individual and geographical factors are therefore paramount.”

The press statement explains that:

“In 2017 alone, 329 Iraqi nationals were granted refugee status, compared to 116 refusals. In 2016, 93 Iraqi nationals were granted refugee status, compared to 27 refusals. In this regard, it is also important to note that a hundred Iraqi nationals also returned voluntarily to Iraq, both in the course of the proceedings and following the notification of a negative decision. It should be recalled that at this stage Luxembourg has not made a forced return to Iraq, but like the practice of other Member States and on the basis of European legislation such returns are not excluded.”