Projects aimed at supporting the integration of young refugees in Luxembourg will now benefit from over €120,000 raised through the charity concert 'Lëtzebuerger Kënschtler fir Flüchtlingen' which took place on 16 December 2015.

Tickets to the concert were quickly sold out and 1,300 listeners eventually gathered at the Grand Auditorium of the Philharmonie to experience the performances of the musicians who showed their solidarity to the project. A grand total of €120,022.37 was collected through the action, which was equally distributed between the three humanitarian organisations of the Association de Soutien aux Travailleurs Immigrés (ASTI), the Luxembourg Red Cross and Caritas Luxembourg at a cheque ceremony held at the Foyer Lily Unden reception centre for asylum seekers.

Michel Simonis, Director General of the Luxembourg Red Cross, explained how his organisation's share of €40,000 will go towards a fund dedicated to integration projects: "The Solidarity Fund of the Red Cross supports people living in insecurity through the allocation of direct financial aid when no other aid measure is available. This donation will be specifically used to finance micro-projects to help the social integration of young refugees. This will results in the purchase of specific equipment that they would never have had the means to aqcuire, such as musical instruments. Music can be an excellent vector for integration!"

"Knowledge of the country's working languages will promote their integration in our society," commented Marie-Josée Jacobs, President of Caritas Luxembourg, which will be using this new financial means as a way of providing language courses for refugees. "This money will also contribute to the establishment of additional 'Gateway' classes, hosting young people from 16 to 23 years old who attended a foreign school and have little or no command of the working languages. The courses (languages, mathematics, civics) are adapted to the level of students. Young refugees can acquire the necessary tools to have a better chance of integration. The money will ultimately help support the efforts of Caritas Luxembourg in coaching refugees after they leave the reception centres, in the search for suitable housing."

ASTI President Laura Zuccoli explained how the association, which has previously been involved in autonomy-promoting projects, will be using the money for the empowerment of international protection seekers or recognised refugees, particularly youth: "It is about taking advantage of their skills by providing financial support to projects such as classes teaching the Latin alphabet to Arabic speakers with an initiation into the French language, support to the creation of fact sheets on Luxembourg, the production of information discovering the country, exchanges with residents, etc."

"I want to thank the musicians for their commitment, it is thanks to them that such an event could be organised," commented Dominique Hansen of the Philharmonie. "Music helps bring people together, regardless of their origin and it is this sharing that the Philharmonie wishes to encourage. I would especially like to thank the partners who support the evening, namely Elvinger Hoss Prussen, Société Générale, Caceis, EY, CDCL and the three associations which are ensuring the proper use of the funds raised."

 


Photo by Alfonso Salgueiro (L-R: Laura Zuccoli, ASTI; Jean Müller, pianist; Dominique Hansen, Philharmonie; Michel Simonis, Luxembourg Red Cross; Tohid Tohidi, writer-composer; Marie-Josée Jacob Caritas; and Cathy Krier, pianist.)