On Tuesday, May 14, 2024 a working visit of representatives of the European Commission took place in the Asylum Seekers’ Accommodation Centre (hereinafter – ASAC) in Liepna, Alūksne Municipality. The aim of the visit was to verify the successful use of European Union (hereinafter – EU) funds in the establishment, improvement and development of the ASAC LIEPNA.
During the working visit, the representatives of the European Commission expressed their appreciation for the targeted use of EU funds and the considerable work that has been done to transform the former Liepna boarding school into a successfully functioning asylum seekers’ accommodation centre, to train 17 staff members to work with asylum seekers, and to successfully provide a range of services that asylum seekers need on a daily basis: health care, psychological, medication provision and translation services.
During the visit, officials from the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior and the European Commission also discussed the allocation of additional EU funding for the further improvement and development of the Centre. Given the difficult global situation, in the coming years, the centre is planning to make a number of improvements using EU funding – to increase the energy efficiency of the building and to carry out landscaping works to adapt ASAC LIEPNA to long-term operation. At the end of the visit, the officials planted a tree as a symbol of working together to achieve big goals.
Maira Roze, Head of OCMA, emphasises: "We live in a challenging geopolitical environment and we need to be ready to respond to asylum crises quickly, swiftly and decisively. EU funding is invaluable for the creation, maintenance and development of a project as large as ASAC LIEPNA."
About ASAC LIEPNA
Taking into account that the number of asylum seekers in Latvia has significantly increased in recent years, an ASAC with accommodation capacity for up to 252 persons was opened on 5 July 2023 in Alūksne, Liepna municipality, thanks to significant co-financing from EU funds,. Since its opening, the Centre has accommodated 368 asylum seekers for the duration of their asylum application.
The total budget of the project was EUR 3,080,933.15 (90% or EUR 2,772,839.84 financed by the European Commission and 10% or EUR 308,093.31 financed by the national budget).
The establishment of ASAC Liepna was implemented with the support of the European Union Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund Emergency Financial Instrument project HOME/2021/AMIF/AG/EMAS/TF1/LV/0003 "Addressing the urgent accommodation and humanitarian needs of the increased number of asylum seekers in Latvia".