The latest report published as a result of the EU's "Being black in Europe" study shows that people of African descent are still facing discrimination in Luxembourg on a daily basis.

Over half of respondents in Luxembourg said they had experienced discrimination over the past five years, according to an updated report published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) over the past week.

56% of people surveyed in the Grand Duchy still struggled with discrimination, while 44% said they'd experienced discrimination in the 12 months prior to the study.

The most common causes for discrimination were listed as migration background and skin colour. 15% of respondents in Luxembourg said they felt discriminated against due to their age, while 5% said they were targeted due to their religious beliefs.

The study surveyed over 6,700 people of African descent living in 13 member states (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden). Respondents were required to either have been born in a sub-Saharan African country, or descend from immigrants from those countries.

FRA noted that in Luxembourg, 47% of all respondents said they had suffered racial discrimination in the five years prior to the survey, but that number increased to 57% of respondents who self-identify as African or Black.

Conférence-débat: Being Black in Luxembourg. Vidéo intégrale

565 participants took part in the 2022 survey in Luxembourg. Over a third of these had Luxembourgish nationality, and two-thirds identified as African descendants. The report showed some improvement on its 2018 predecessor, in which Luxembourg came second only to Finland as the European country in which African-origin citizens felt they suffered the most discrimination. In November 2019, the  "Being Black in Luxembourg" conference took place, levelling a high amount of criticism at then-Minister of Family, Corinne Cahen. Cahen expressed shock at the extent of racial discrimination prevalent in Luxembourg, and promised to explore the issue.

However, the improved situation compared to the previous report is not as simple it may seem - in part, the reduction in discrimination is attributed to methodological changes introduced as a result of pandemic measures.

The study shows a significant number of issues exist within the workplace in Luxembourg, as 38% of participants said they were at a disadvantage when hunting for jobs, while over a third experienced discrimination at work. A quarter of respondents said they had experienced discrimination at school as well. Employment was a key factor for 44% of respondents migrating to Luxembourg.

When compared to Luxembourg's population as a whole, citizens of African origin are more likely to work in unskilled, physically demanding jobs, very often in precarious conditions. Unsurprisingly, they experience more problems paying their bills compared to white citizens.
Just 19% of respondents were aware that they could report discrimination to Luxembourg's equality body, the Centre pour l'égalité du traitement (Centre for Equal Treatment).

Housing also featured among the issues experienced by the survey participants. 30% of respondents said they struggled with overcrowded accommodation, while just 37% of people of African descent own their own homes in the Grand Duchy.

View the full report here.