According to the latest report from the foreign ministry, Luxembourg received 868 asylum applications in the first four months of 2017, the highest number for the same period recorded in the last three years.

Syrians accounted for 18.4% of applicants (160) from January to April, followed by Serbians (105), Moroccans (84), Algerians (77), Albanians (60) and Georgians (56).

Over the past four years, 644 Syrians (excluding those flown in under the EU emergency relocation programmes) who made their way to Luxembourg have received international protection or subsidiary protection in Luxembourg. This movement has led to the creation of a number of cultural associations among the most recent is the Arabic Association for Cultural Exchange (AACE).

Meanwhile, in early 2017 MEC asbl produced its first magazine, Move Together, for the international protection community in Arabic, French and English.

Since the beginning of the year, 271 people were granted international protection or subsidiary protection, an average rate of 67 approvals per month.

The government ruled on 1,242 applications since the start of 2017, an average of 310 decisions per month. Regarding rulings made in April, three applications dated back to 2012.

Luxembourg returned 51 refused applicants in April and 175 since the start of the year. The majority were returned to Kosovo (64), Bosnia-Herzegovina (25), Albania (24), Serbia (14) and Ukraine (11), among others.