Ukrainian refugees (desperately) looking for work

One year after the first Russian bombings on their country, the Ukrainians who have chosen Luxembourg as a host country are trying to find their place there. Effectively taken care of as soon as they arrive, they benefit from the special status of temporary protection, which allows them to work – a significant advantage over applicants for international protection, who have no full access to the labour market until they are granted a residence permit.

This administrative shortcut has allowed some to start working relatively soon after their arrival. This is the case of Anastasiia Nechepurenko, 22, hired at the end of March by Arendt Services as a junior corporate officer. The Lëtzebuerger Journal had met her a few weeks later, grateful for the chance she had been offered but still on edge at the mention of the war and the fate of her parents who had remained in Odessa. We saw her again at the end of January, blossoming in her work and her new life. "There have been a lot of changes in my life in the last few months, " she says. "I enjoy my life here, Luxembourg has become a second home for me now. At first, it was difficult for me to understand how to live here, the traditions, the rules to follow. Everything was new. Now, after more than nine months, I realise that this is a very good country to live with your family."