The labor market integration of refugees is key to their nation's reconstruction efforts

Forced displacement and refugee migration are at an all-time peak. UNCHR, the UN Refugee Agency, estimates that global forced displacement has reached more than 100 million people by mid- 2022, including 32.5 million refugees and 5 million asylum seekers. Since then, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused the largest displacement of people in Europe since World War II. Over 8 million refugees from Ukraine resettled across Europe, and 5 million registered for temporary protection or similar national protection schemes, granting them free access to the labor market. Luxembourg is no exception to the rule. Since the early 2000s, it has been one of the OECD countries that receives the highest number of asylum seekers relative to its population (about 3,500 asylum applications per million inhabitants). Asylum seekers originate from Syria, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Guinea, Ethiopia, among others. In addition, in 2022, around 5 thousand Ukrainian citizens filed applications for temporary protection with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.