Interview with Constance Jacquemot from Passerell
Tell us about your organisation
Passerell is an Luxembourg-based NGO that has been active in the field of fundamental rights since 2016. Through its free legal contact point, the organisation listens to asylum seekers and refugees, informs them about their rights and supports them with their legal and/or administrative procedures. In addition to this, the Passerell team also leads advocacy, training and awareness-raising activities aimed at reaching a wider audience and contributing to changing the bad practices it witnesses in Luxembourg.
Regarding the Pact on Migration and Asylum (“the Pact”), has national implementing legislation been adopted in Luxembourg? If not, has draft legislation been presented?
Luxembourg adopted two laws as part of the implementation of the Pact on 11 June 2026 (See here and here). The legislative process that led to their adoption and the content of the two draft laws (nos. 8684 and 8732), drew criticism from Passerell and other key Luxembourg-based NGOs working in the field of asylum and migration.
The process was criticised for the lack of meaningful consultation and democratic debate. While Draft Law No. 8684 was criticised for its security-oriented approach, potentially at the expense of fundamental rights, civil society welcomed some positive developments in Draft Law No. 8732, notably the abolition of the temporary occupation authorisation (AOT), which was replaced by access to the labour market for asylum seekers after four months, and the recognition of the National Office for Children (ONE) as the competent authority for unaccompanied minors. Nevertheless, concerns remained regarding children’s rights, reception conditions, effective access to employment and civil society participation. The accelerated legislative process also left insufficient time for meaningful consultation with frontline organisations and affected people.
How has the situation for people seeking protection in Luxembourg changed since the entry into application of the Pact on 12 June?
Since the start of Pact application on 12 June, Passerell has continued to observe administrative barriers preventing people from accessing the asylum procedure. Several asylum applicants who came to our offices over the summer reported having had the registration of their applications refused. We documented this recurring practice, including six refusals recorded on a single day, in a recent press release.
A related longstanding issue concerns the age recognition of unaccompanied minors. Authorities continue to refuse access to the asylum procedure unless young people register as adults, thereby undermining the specific safeguards to which children are entitled.
Regarding appeals, the main difficulties observed so far concern transfer decisions under the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR). Several applicants who lodged their asylum applications before 12 June but received transfer decisions afterwards have approached our legal team with questions about the applicable rules. In practice, they appear to be subject to the AMMR’s procedural deadlines and the absence of automatic suspensive effect of an appeal, and, therefore, require a separate urgent application (référé) to seek suspension of the transfer, without necessarily benefiting from other safeguards introduced by the new regulation, including the right to information (Article 19). We have also observed transfer decisions to Italy and Greece under the new framework being upheld by the courts despite no transfers to these countries having been carried out before the Pact entered into application (See, for example, Judgment No. 55543 (Italy) and Judgment No. 55282 (Greece)).
Finally, the Ombudsman, who was designated as Luxembourg’s independent fundamental rights monitoring mechanism under the Pact, conducted visits to the screening centre on 15 June and 3 August. Screening is currently carried out at the General Department of Immigration (DGIM), in the same building where asylum applications are registered, as the planned dedicated screening centre is not yet operational. The Ombudsman’s reports have highlighted practical and logistical shortcomings, including an absence of effective health screening, confidentiality concerns due to inadequate premises and a lack of training of staff members who are responsible for assessing vulnerabilities.
What are you biggest hopes and fears about the situation for people seeking protection in Luxembourg in the future?
Our greatest immediate fears are an increase in detention, including of minors, an increased number of returns, a continued deterioration of reception conditions and greater difficulties in lodging appeals due to shortened deadlines. We also fear that the Pact’s restrictive approach, which is reflected both in its legal provisions and in the political narrative surrounding migration, also risks further undermining fundamental rights.
People seeking protection are too often reduced to numbers, reflecting a broader European trend in which political priorities are focused on reducing arrivals and increasing returns rather than addressing people’s vulnerabilities and ensuring that they receive the protection they need. Across Europe, rather than upholding humanity and solidarity, numerous countries, including Luxembourg, are increasingly seeking to make themselves less attractive than their neighbours in order to deter people from seeking protection. We fear that respect for fundamental rights and international and European human rights standards is being pushed aside.
Nevertheless, we remain hopeful that civil society will continue to act as a counterweight, notably through refugee-led networks that are becoming increasingly mobilised. We also hope that the Ombudsman will continue to raise the alarm about the various practical problems that have been identified and that these findings will lead to concrete adjustments in the implementation of the Pact in Luxembourg.
For more information about Passerell, please visit their website.
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