By Hind Al-Harby

Asylum seekers fleeing death and suffering in their native countries come to Luxembourg in search of new lives. Here they are housed in foyers and given basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter.

Sometimes, though, because of the strict rules in certain foyers or their isolated locations, certain practicalities are overlooked.

Each school morning in the Foyer Marienthal, children set out for the 600 metre walk to the bus stop to go to school. For six-year-old Amir, who suffers from pains in his legs, the walk is difficult, particularly when it is cold and wet.

His father, Saif, an Iraqi refugee, cannot understand why the children must walk to the bus stop to take the bus when it drops them off at the door of the foyer at the end of the day.

He says it is a hilly walk and dangerous in winter when the mornings are still dark and there is no street lighting.

“We use mobile phones to light our way,” he said. Marienthal's location means that it is difficult for residents to travel. It a 20-minute drive to the capital but, using public transport, residents must take buses, which run once an hour until 8pm at the latest.

“It is difficult to move around and be independent because of the location of our building and lack of services nearby,” Saif said.

Bins filling up with uneaten food

The bins are filling up with uneaten food in the Foyer Maternité in Strassen. This, says Nasreen Hassan, is because residents are tired of seeing the same food served for lunch and dinner.

Also, he says, some residents are unable to be at the foyer canteen for the rigid mealtimes because they are out at certain times of the day for appointments with doctors, language classes or other things.

“Why can we not cook for ourselves and eat when we feel hungry?” he asked. “Even if it was just once a week?”.

In some foyers, cooking facilities are provided to residents, along with a weekly food allowance.

Mother-of-three Hind added that she would like to be able to cook for her children. “I wish they would relax the rules a little. Sometimes, you don't feel like a refugee but a prisoner,” she said.

Residents would also like to be allowed to keep kettles in their rooms, so they can make hot drinks when they want.

All residents have access to laundry facilities according to a schedule. Hind explained that the schedule is not always convenient for her, however.

“Sometimes I am at language school and cannot be at the foyer at the allocated time”.

She said it was frustrating because access to the laundry used to be open on a first-come-first-served basis.

Another requirement of refugees in many foyers is that they take part in a cleaning rota. While most are happy to help out, some struggle because of mobility problems.

Iraqi refugee Manal Abdel-Karim said: “You have to clean even if you are sick or are 60 years old and suffering from joint pain.”

Hind is one of two asylum seekers writing for a bi-monthly column on Wort.lu/en. Before coming to Luxembourg, she was a TV journalist and programme producer in Baghdad, Iraq. She fled Iraq in 2013 after receiving death threats because of her work. Click here to read more articles from this series.