Refugees sometimes wait longer than 21 months for their asylum decision

Between 2018 and 2023, around 10,420 asylum notices were issued in Luxembourg. Normally, the application for international protection status for refugees should take up to six months. However, under certain conditions, this deadline can be extended. For example, if the factual or legal situation surrounding an asylum application remains unclear after six months, or if the situation in the country of origin has changed in the meantime. However, after twenty-one months, every applicant should have received a response from the immigration authorities.

The Ministry of the Interior, headed by Léon Gloden (CSV), provided data on how many asylum seekers in Luxembourg have to wait on average for more than six months for an asylum decision in response to a parliamentary question from the Green MP Meris Sehovic.

Of the 10,420 requests for international protection status between 2018 and 2023, 50 percent were processed within the intended period of six months. 1,503 were processed within eleven months, 1,109 within 14 months, 860 in 17 months, 654 in 21 months and in 777 cases applicants only received an asylum decision after 21 months.

Reasons for delays in asylum processes are not public

Regarding the reasons why some asylum decisions take up to 21 months, the Interior Ministry explains that these are not recorded in the statistics. The reasons vary from case to case and are communicated to applicants individually.

In addition, international crises also have an impact on the time it takes to process asylum decisions. For example, the Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan in 2021 or the Ukraine war. In both cases, asylum procedures were suspended – in Afghanistan because there was a temporary lack of information about the security situation there and in Ukraine because it was unclear how long the war with Russia would last.

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Luxembourg also often rejects Syrian and Afghan refugees

In its response, the Interior Ministry further states that it wants to further reduce the duration of asylum procedures in the future. This was stated in the CSV/DP coalition agreement. In order to achieve this goal, more staff should be recruited and investments should be made in their training and in digitalization.

However, the Ministry further argues that the Luxembourg state must ensure that the asylum procedures continue to be carried out completely and carefully. It is important to process each asylum application individually and not to grant or reject international protection status “based on generalized reasons”.