“I wonder if Frieden still knows what the CSV is”

Luc Frieden (CSV) can imagine processing asylum applications outside the Union. “The question arises as to whether some of these asylum applications cannot also be processed in the direct neighbors of these EU states. The CSV sees this in a more nuanced way,” said the Prime Minister in an interview with the “Luxemburger Wort”. The CSV’s top candidate for the European elections, Christophe Hansen, opposed the Rwanda model at the congress of the European People’s Party (EPP). “This measure does not correspond to the CSV’s line in migration policy,” Hansen told the “Luxemburger Wort” at the time.

It didn’t take long for the statements to cause an outcry from the opposition in this country. Green Party spokeswoman Sam Tanson spoke of a “double standard on the part of the CSV” and LSAP MP Franz Fayot spoke of “shameful” statements by the Prime Minister because peace suddenly made Luxembourg associated with the Rwanda model.

Luc Frieden is said not to have made any reference to the Rwanda model in the interview – says the Interior Ministry when asked by the “Luxemburger Wort”: “He only raised the question of whether some asylum applications cannot be processed in the EU’s immediate neighbors , which is completely different from the Rwanda model.”

The “Word” wanted to know from the Interior Ministry whether outsourcing asylum applications was an official position of the CSV/DP government. In an email, the ministry responded that there was “no proposal from the EU to adopt the British Rwanda model”. “The Luxembourg government and also the Prime Minister are against such a Rwanda model.” The government continues to work to ensure that human and asylum rights are respected in the EU Asylum Pact.

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Asylum procedures in third countries – “geographical discussion is not so important”

However, the fact that Frieden can imagine outsourcing asylum procedures to third countries does not meet with resistance from everyone in the political landscape. “Whether outside of Europe or at the EU’s external border – it must be possible to apply for asylum. The geographical discussion is not that important,” says the ADR’s top candidate for the EU elections, commenting on the discussion surrounding the Rwanda model. In its manifesto for the European elections, his party is also toying with the idea of ​​asylum procedures in third countries. What is more important is that the conditions under which asylum procedures are carried out are “humane and fair”.

He welcomes the fact that Frieden is also considering outsourcing asylum procedures to third countries. “But I wonder whether Luc Frieden has returned to the right party in the ten years he has been away – or whether he still knows what the CSV is.” Whether in asylum policy, nuclear energy or other topics – Frieden’s opinion is not always in harmony with that of his party, notes Kartheiser. In the specific case of the asylum procedure, he is in line with the ADR.

DP: Concerns about fair asylum procedures in third countries remain after asylum reform

The coalition partner has a different tone than the ADR. The DP candidate for the European elections, Jana Degrott, does not directly criticize Peace’s statements, but if the Prime Minister were to toy with the idea of ​​wanting to process asylum procedures based on the Rwanda model, that would be “not okay,” she says. In principle, the DP supports the asylum reform that was voted in Brussels this week.

“We as the EU must take more responsibility and speak with one voice. This has been achieved with the asylum reform. “Now we have to make sure that there is a common practice for asylum procedures at the EU’s external border – and that the rules are respected,” Degrott nuances. They are against illegal pushbacks and against “people who are in danger in their home country being sent back”.

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The DP’s top candidate for the European elections, Charles Goerens, is also of the same opinion. When asked by the “Luxemburger Wort”, he said that the asylum reform was not necessarily “satisfactory”, but that it was the best possible compromise. In the future, all people who are in need of protection should continue to have the chance of a fair asylum procedure. Here again, it is important that the Geneva Refugee Convention and the Human Rights Convention are strictly adhered to in the third countries in which asylum procedures take place.

Goerens does not want to talk about the “Rwanda model” in connection with asylum reform. This is different because the British government, which coined the concept, wants to deport people to Rwanda without examining their asylum application, where they can then apply for asylum. That is not the case with asylum reform.

Goerens also did not want to comment directly on Prime Minister Luc Frieden’s statements. “I have described my position to you,” he tells the “Luxemburger Wort”.