Poor conditions at refugee facilities

‘If MPs visited more often perhaps there would be more cleaning’
Michèle Sinner
adapted for RTL Today
Members of the relevant Chamber committee, accompanied by Family Affairs, Solidarity, Living Together and Reception of Refugees Minister Max Hahn, visited several refugee facilities on Monday morning.

The delegation travelled to Mersch, Käerjeng and Soleuvre to inspect the living conditions of applicants for international protection. In recent open letters, residents have complained of very poor conditions, describing infrastructure as filthy and dilapidated, and criticising both the quantity and quality of food provided.

Serge Kollwelter, who is in contact with refugees, criticised plans to remove refugee accommodation from the list of classified establishments monitored by the Labour Inspectorate (Inspection du travail et des mines, ITM). If implemented, this would mean the National Reception Office (ONA) would effectively oversee itself. Kollwelter compared the situation to a company such as Monsanto no longer being subject to external controls but assessing its own compliance.

In Soleuvre, the final stop of the visit, around 30 Eritrean women are housed in a dormitory. Marianne Donven, who has long campaigned for refugees and is in contact with the women, said they had sent her videos showing mould covered rooms and cramped conditions. According to her, the women sleep in bunk beds and have virtually no privacy. She added that culturally this is a difficult adjustment to make for the women. Donven continued that they feel discriminated against for being Eritrean compared with refugees from other origins who are not subjected to the same conditions and they find it shocking to be treated differently.

As per Donven, the women were reportedly asked to leave their room before the MPs arrived, but refused in order to show the delegation the conditions for themselves.

They said they were uncertain where they would be moved next, possibly to a sports hall or communal rooms. Some were fearful of being placed in windowless rooms or spaces boarded up with plywood. Although the women were able to show the MPs their dormitory, they later said not all of them were allowed to speak to the MPs during the visit. At the same time, one resident noted that significant cleaning efforts had taken place in recent days and suggested it would be positive if MPs visited more frequently.