Last week, Minister for Home Affairs Taina Bofferding announced that the Luxembourg City ban on begging lacks legal grounds and can therefore not come into force, a decision that the municipality has since planned to challenge with the help of a lawyer.
However, there are already three other towns in Luxembourg where a partial begging ban is in place: Dudelange, Diekirch, and Ettelbruck. According to Minister Bofferding, the bans in question have to be revoked.
When asked about the issue, Ettelbruck Mayor Jean-Paul Schaaf from the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) said that he has not been contacted by the Ministry nor the Minister in charge. He argued that the regulation currently in place, which bans begging during certain times, has been approved and has existed for several years. Mayor Schaaf accordingly described the ban as a necessity since local businesses had complained about having their doorways blocked.
The CSV politician further argued that the measures have turned out to make sense and be of value. However, neither police nor municipal agents issue sanctions against those violating the ban, they merely bring to their attention that begging is prohibited and show them where to find help, according to Mayor Schaaf.
