Leaked videos have revealed overcrowded, unhygienic and poorly maintained conditions in refugee accommodation run by the National Reception Office (ONA).

Residents reported a lack of privacy, mould and inadequate facilities, with some secretly filming their surroundings despite restrictions on media access. Reporters only get to see shelters during official openings or other guided visits.

The images were sent to the Luxemburger Wort by a reliable source. Filming itself is not forbidden to residents as long as they don’t show any other people without their consent, the family ministry confirmed to the Wort.

Family and Integration Minister Max Hahn has acknowledged that some of Luxembourg’s asylum seeker and refugee shelters are sub-standard, though he said the government has no plans to close any centres.

In Ettelbrück, the sleeping areas are only provisionally partitioned off. There is hardly any real privacy here. Screenshot: Luxemburger Wort 

If you want to use the men’s toilet in Ettelbrück, you have to cross a kind of courtyard. Dirt is carried into the toilet facilities. Screenshot: Luxemburger Wort 

Residents report a lack of adequate sanitary facilities. In Ettelbrück, for example, men must cross a courtyard to reach the toilets, bringing dirt into the facilities. Showers are located in outdoor containers.

Overcrowding across sites

Refugees describe cramped conditions in several ONA centres. In Soleuvre, around 30 women are said to share a single dormitory, while in Mondercange, up to ten men sleep in the same room.

In Mersch, residents are housed in a building with no windows.

In addition to the toilet container, there is also a shower container in Ettelbrück. Screenshot: Luxemburger Wort 

This bedroom in Soleuvre is contaminated with black mould. It poses a health risk to the residents. Screenshot: Luxemburger Wort 

Activist Marianne Donven of the group Ronnen Dësch described the facility as a “horror building”, adding: “I was assured it would only be used in emergencies. If people have been living there for years, that is unacceptable.”

Mould and damp also feature in some facilities. Footage from Soleuvre shows black mould spreading across bedroom walls, while residents in Esch-sur-Alzette say they must place bowls and buckets in their rooms to collect rainwater dripping from the ceiling.

Also read:Sex for a place to sleep: the bitter reality of female homelessness

Ministry defends standards

The Ministry of Family Affairs maintains that all ONA accommodation meets European standards, but it acknowledged that the system is under significant strain.

With occupancy rates exceeding 90%, a waiting list for asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection was introduced in September 2023. “Under these circumstances, we must make the best use of the available facilities to ensure everyone is accommodated,” the ministry said.

Our refugee structures are bursting at the seams.

Djuna Bernard

Déi Gréng MP

Green MP Djuna Bernard, who is in contact with several refugees, said conditions in some centres are “disastrous”. She criticised the ongoing use of ageing facilities such as the Lily Unden and Don Bosco centres, which she said have been unfit to house people for decades.

“And why do we still continue to house people there? Because there are not enough structures. Our refugee accommodation is bursting at the seams,” Bernard said.

(This article has first been published by the Luxemburger Wort. Machine translate, with editing and adaptation by Lucrezia Reale.)