The refugee home in Weilerbach, which was closed for the past four years due to renovation works, is once again ready to house up to 190 people.
Since 2000, the former Sanatorium Neuens in Weilerbach has acted as a refugee home for the National Bureau for Admission (ONA). However, for the past four years, the building has remained unoccupied due to renovations. Now that works have been completed, the first residents are expected to move back in by the end of the month.
It is a mixed facility that houses families, as well as single men and women. Two school buildings are also part of the site.
Sylvie Lettal from the Red Cross is in charge of the home and provided further insight into the level of education that refugee children can access: “The first phase it is all about integration, learning languages, maybe participate in workshops, simply activate capabilities. The second phase, during which we closely cooperate with the Beaufort social offices, is all about the job market.”
The facility is now able to hold up to 190 people. Renovation costs amounted to €26 million.
The municipality of Beaufort has about 2,000 residents, out of whom a quarter are asylum applicants. Alderman Daniel Scharff therefore expressed hopes that other municipalities will increase their efforts of support in the future.
Looking towards the prospect of numerous people moving into the facility in the near future, he expressed concerns: “The municipality mainly has a lot of pressure in its population office. 150 to 190 people moving in over the coming days will mean a lot of work. … This will also increase financial pressure, but I think it will be manageable.”
Minister of Immigration and Asylum Jean Asselborn noted that it is crucially important that the facility can be used again since the number of people seeking protection in the Grand Duchy remains high: “We probably have twice as many people arrive as last year, and I don’t see any prospect of that changing in the future. The ONA has currently 7,000 beds at its disposal and houses 6,700 people. I cannot stress enough that this is only possible thanks to the cooperation with the Red Cross and with Caritas.”
1,785 people have filed an asylum request so far this year, but that number might still increase to 2,300. Immigration officials therefore hope that other towns take Beaufort as an example and open up ways to create more ONA facilities across the country.