“We were talking with the OECD about refugees and they said they had never seen so few refugees in history,” Adolfo Sommarribas of the European Migration Network (EMN) told Delano. The key factor this year has been the closure of external EU borders and controls on internal borders to contain the virus, which impacted the first three months of the pandemic most acutely.
It meant that for the first nine months of 2020, total asylum application figures for Luxembourg fell to 51% of the number recorded the previous year.
Things returned to more normal levels in September with 158 applicants, the same as in September 2019.
-31% asylum applications in EU+
Across the EU+ countries, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) noted there had been a gradual increase in asylum applications since the initial easing of travel restrictions, with 295,075 applications during the first eight months, 31% fewer than the year before.
Similar to Luxembourg, Syrians made up the largest group of applicants in the EU+ at 13% (50% in Luxembourg), followed by Afghans at 10% (9.3%), Venezuelans (9%) and Colombians (7%). In Luxembourg, Eritreans (13%) made up the second-largest group of applicants by nationality.
The EASO expected applications to remain at lower levels because of fluctuating restrictive measures in EU+ countries.
Sommarribas, however, believes the pandemic will trigger a strong migratory shift to Europe, in part economically motivated but also from people seeking international protection. “The situation is bad here but in other countries, it’s worse. So that will put a lot of pressure on migrant flows,” he said.
Actions in support of irregular migrants
There is no accurate data on the movements of irregular migrants because they are not documented unless controlled by police. Sommarribas said: “The situation will be more difficult for irregular migrants to come to Luxembourg because now for each job, if people begin losing employment, you will have more nationals and European citizens who will fight for jobs that before no one will have fought for.”
Sommarribas praised Luxembourg’s treatment of these vulnerable communities. “Because the pandemic was a public health issue, the ministries of health and foreign affairs were very clear that irregular migrants can go to hospitals to be treated without being prosecuted,” he said. Social grocery stores and the Wanteraktioun emergency housing were also made available to irregular migrants with no income.
“Luxembourg has taken measures during the pandemic that most countries hadn’t even thought about. In that sense I believe that Luxembourg has done the right thing,” he said.
Government actions are one thing but how these migratory movements are received by the population is another. In its “Inform #1” report on member state responses to migrant unemployment, the EMN warned the economic downturn “could bring challenges in terms of social cohesion and xenophobia” which would have “potentially long-lasting negative effects on third country migrants in the EU and OECD.”