On 28 September 2018, the EMN National Contact Point of Luxembourg organized National Conference “Attracting and retaining third-country national students and researchers”.
The conference was opened by a representative of the Ministry for Integration, initially pointing out that 48% of the Luxembourg population are foreign nationals and persons of foreign origin. For this very reason, Luxembourg has developed a number of programs for the integration of foreigners, including the ones for asylum seekers. After that the deputy of the Rector of the University of Luxembourg said that they currently have 15% foreign students, 15% of them from outside the EU and that the University actively supports intercultural diversity.
After introductory speeches, in the first panel, a European Commission representative presented the reasons for the adoption of the Directive on the conditions for entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of research, studies, training, voluntary service, pupil exchange schemes or educational projects and au pairing (EU) 2016/801, and thereafter the Head of the Department for Foreigners in the Directorate for Immigration from Luxembourg spoke about the implementation of this Directive in practice.
The second panel was dedicated to good practices in the EU Member States and were hosted by a representative of the Uppsala University of Sweden, a representative of the Federal Migration and Refugee Office from Germany and representatives of the University of Amsterdam from Netherlands and the University of Tallinn from Estonia.
All speakers emphasized that the number of foreign students in their countries over the last ten years has increased considerably, and the key reason for this is an increase in the number of programs in English. Contrary to this, tuitions as well as other costs of living, uncertainty after graduation and administrative barriers to entry, but also in the regulation of the status, with which students and scientists from third countries are faced, are highlighted as factors that deter foreign students from coming.
The last panel was attended by the representatives of Luxembourg institutions, namely the Employment Office and the University, presenting programs that allow foreign students to stay. At the very end of the panel a third-country national, who graduated from the University of Luxembourg, presented her experience of regulating her stay and the difficulties she encountered during the employment process.
The conference was attended by a representative of the Croatian EMN National Contact Point and a representative of the Central State Office for Croats Abroad.
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