[ Human Trafficking, Country-by-Country ]

LUXEMBOURG (Tier 1) – Extracted in part from the U.S. State Dept 2023 TIP Report

The Government of Luxembourg fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Luxembourg remained on Tier 1. These efforts included investigating, prosecuting, and convicting more traffickers and identifying significantly more trafficking victims. The government also increased funding for awareness-raising activities. Although the government meets the minimum standards, the government decreased overall funding to NGOs for victim assistance and shelter for the third consecutive year. In addition, judges continued to issue lenient sentences to convicted traffickers, creating potential safety concerns for trafficking victims, weakening deterrence, and undercutting nationwide efforts to fight trafficking.

Prioritized Recommendations

Seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should involve significant prison terms, and ensure convicted traffickers serve those sentences in practice.

Allow formal victim identification by entities other than the police, possibly including civil society, labor inspectors, social workers, and health care professionals, to ensure victims have immediate access to services.

Increase funding to NGOs to ensure shelter and services are offered and available to victims immediately upon identification.

Develop safeguards for victims to protect them against traffickers freed on suspended sentences.

Revise the trafficking law to clarify that force, fraud, or coercion are core elements of the crime of trafficking of adults rather than aggravating factors.

Increase training for judges on the severity of the crime and the impact on victims to ensure convictions result in adequate sentences.

Increase worker protections by eliminating recruitment fees charged to workers by labor recruiters and ensuring employers pay any recruitment fees.

Promote a victim-centered approach in child victim identification procedures.

Develop a new NAP with measurable outcomes to assess its progress.

Coordinate trafficking data collection and fund, maintain, and conduct trafficking research to create an evidence base for future policy decision.