Charity lambasts government over shelter for refugee children

Charity organisation Caritas has lambasted the government over plans to put more than 70 refugee children in one shelter, saying the facility is not suitable for such a large crowd.

Luxembourg plans to house 78 minor refugees - aged between 16 and 18 - who arrived in the country unaccompanied in the shelter despite the facility not providing round-the-clock care and security as is the norm, public broadcaster 100.7 reported on Wednesday.

The shelter already houses 50 of the close to 80 refugees the government intends to place there next month, the radio broadcaster said, which exceeds the capacity for the facility located in Luxembourg City.

"It is a house that is actually too small for so many children and where the care is not the same as it should be for such a shelter," Caritas Director Marc Crochet told 100.7.

The government dismissed the concerns and called the situation "provisional", 100.7 reported. Shelters that care for underage refugees are currently overloaded, the government said.

Last year 164 unaccompanied refugee children arrived in the Grand Duchy, the government told the public broadcaster.

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