Luxembourg is a target country for human trafficking. Traffickers bring victims here to work in forced labor. Fabienne Rossler, General Secretary for the Consultative Commission for Human Rights (CCDH) says: “Forced prostitution in Luxembourg is more lucrative in Luxembourg than in other countries. And the size of the country allows the traffickers to quickly leave or take the victims out of the country if they fear that there might be an investigation.” Between 2019 and 2020, 23 victims have been officially identified in Luxembourg, 13 of those are women and 10 are men. The number of unreported cases is probably much higher, it is impossible to estimate how many people have been trafficked here to Luxembourg and the chances to make the perpetrators responsible before a court are low. Firstly, because many victims wouldn’t file a report. “Often, they are afraid to do so. The traffickers might have threatened them or their families or they just prefer to go back to their country of origin. Other victims might be afraid to seek help because they might be in an illegal situation.”
The CCDH was founded by law in 2014 as an independent organization to advise the government on human rights matters and to observe trends. Since the commission for Human Rights started their mission by law in 2014, the legal framework has improved a lot, Fabienne says. But the CCDH still is concerned about the situation. In their last reports to the government, the CCDH highlighted the need for more human resources in the fight against trafficking. “The number of victims of forced labor is on the rise, mainly in restaurants, in the construction sector, and also in private homes, meaning domestic servitude.” According to the latest report, forced labor has become the leading motive of trafficking. The statistics however count only the visible parts of trafficking. The pandemic forced namely the sexwork activities to go under the radar. “It has become very difficult to detect and to get in touch with victims of forced prostitution. The commercial sex activities moved increasingly to private apartments and online platforms.”
Victims of human trafficking in Luxembourg can seek help with the initiative Infotraite. Website: www.stoptraite.lu, Hotline: +352 24460 3220. E-mail: info@traite.lu.
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