Luxembourg: the Catholic Church’s helping hand to refugees. A new publication, “The newcomers’ guidebook”

The initiative of Luxembourg’s Catholic Church for welcoming and supporting refugees, “Offer a helping hand” (Reech eng Hand), is the fresh publication of “A pocket guide to Luxembourg, the newcomers’ guidebook”. In French-Arab and in English-Farsi, it provides asylum seekers and refugees with information about the “fundamentals of society” (history, politics, economy, culture) and daily life (accommodation, transport, work …). The guidebook is completed by an app, “Lux en poche”. This means to be a “tool for social inclusion” as well as a help for social workers and volunteers. The guidebook will be presented on March 3^rd as part of the 35^th Festival of Migration, Cultures and Citizenship, which will open in Luxembourg City on Friday, March 2^nd. With 400 stalls and 300 associations, the Festival has been hailed as “one of the most popular public celebrations in the Grand Duchy”: meetings, music, food, literature, art, debates, conferences, lots of cultural events show the traits of all those who “shape Luxembourg”, from the oldest immigrant communities, such as Italians and Portuguese, to the more recent ones, such as Afghans and Syrians. Along with the Festival, there will be a “book and culture show” and ArtsManif, a venue for artists, painters, sculptors and photographers. The programme of debates and conferences will deal with the issues of far right, solidarity, modern slavery, the “memory of migrants and the European Year of Cultural Heritage”.