As of 15 April 2020, Luxembourg had 3,373 confirmed cases of Covid-19 along with 69 deaths. On the same day, the Prime Minister announced that from 20 April 2020, confinement measures would be de-escalated, with construction works restarting and DIY stores opening.
Luxembourg has also begun to receive unaccompanied children, relocated from camps on the greek islands of Lesbos, Samos and Chios. 12 children, aged between 11 and 15, were flown to the country on 15 April 2020. The Greek deputy migration minister, Giorgos Koumoustakos, said that although the number of children relocated was small, the measure sent a message to other countries to follow Luxembourg’s example. He also confirmed that a second group of 50 children would fly to Germany on Saturday 18 April 2020 and 20 more would fly to Switzerland.
In March, the government and civil society reached out to migrants and visitors regarding Covid-19. ASTI (Association de Soutien Aux Travailleurs Immigrés) provides multilingual information on temporary measures related to visas and permits for third-country nationals, available in 12 languages. The government also distributed a multilingual flyer to all households about social distancing in English, Portuguese, French, German and Luxembourgish.
On 26 March 2020, a riot involving 25 prisoners broke out in the Schrassig prison due to a lack of masks and disinfectant gel. Those involved in the riot were placed in isolation for a month. Following the riots, thirty inmates embarked on a hunger strike protesting against the conditions of their detention.
The GDP has been unable to find any reports indicating whether measures have been taken to safeguard migrants and asylum seekers, including those in detention.
- Nations Unies (Centre Régional d’Information pour l’Europe Occidentale), “Covid-19: Le Luxembourg Aborde Avec Prudence le Déconfinement,” 15 April 2020, https://unric.org/fr/covid-19-le-luxembourg-aborde-avec-prudence-le-deconfinement/
- BBC News, “Greece Relocates Unaccompanied Migrant Children to Luxembourg,” 15 April 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52303623
- European Commission, “Luxembourg – Multilingual Information about Covid-19 for Third-Country Nationals,” 20 March 2020, https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/news/luxembourg-multilingual-information-about-covid-19-for-third-country-nationals
- G. Weber, “Special Units Called to Schrassig to Deal with Prisoner Rebellion,” RTL, 26 March 2020, https://today.rtl.lu/news/luxembourg/a/1490385.html
- E. Ewald, “30 Inmates Embark on Hunger Strike Following Protests,” RTL, 31 March 2020, https://today.rtl.lu/news/luxembourg/a/1493481.html
- Findel Detention Centre (Yabiladi, “Insolite: Un Marocain Expulsé du Luxembourg en Jet Privé”, 7 May 2013, https://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/17168/insolite-marocain-expulse-luxembourg-prive.htm)
