ASTI Luxembourg

Movement Profile

ASTI-Luxembourg is a non-governmental organisation that works for a new vision of society, enriched by and embracing its diversity. It was created in 1979 to advocate for equal rights in general and the right to vote for immigrants in particular. Hence, ASTI has been working for decades on anti-discrimination issues and contributes to the anti-discrimination debate in Luxembourg and at the European level. (http://www.asti.lu)

National and international partnerships are a central component to ASTI’s work. The organisation  works closely with network partners as co-organiser of the ‘Ateliers des Cultures’, which holds music and dance workshops for young people.

In the late 1980s, ASTI became active in issues related to asylum seekers and undocumented migrants. ASTI has been particularly active in education, most notably by publishing new pedagogical materials, running a documentation centre on intercultural topics, conducting intercultural theatre projects in primary and secondary schools, and founding an intercultural agency that aims to strengthen integration by bringing so-called ‘Luxembourgish’ and ‘foreign’ organisations under the same roof. In addition, ASTI organises a monthly radio show and news magazine organized by the migrants themselves and a special gardening project with asylum seekers. These projects demonstrate ASTI’s inclusive, grassroots approach in developing and carrying out its projects by involving target groups from the beginning of each project.

Many of ASTI’s political lobbying and activities, such as the asylum-seekers campaign ‘We shall not be moved’ and its lobbying for immigrant voting rights, are exclusively funded by private donations. Other initiatives are supported by different national ministries and European organisations, such as the European Refugee Fund.

Our vision of an inclusive EU

Being in contact on a daily basis with people from different cultural backgrounds and taking into account the core values defended by the organisation since its inception, ASTI does not distinguish between EU and non-EU citizens in carrying out its activities. This forms the basis of our understanding of an inclusive EU as a Union that does not discriminate between people based on their cultural backgrounds or origin.

ASTI is proud to see advances in integration of EU citizens outside of their country of origin. This was an early point of advocacy for our organisation and remains important, as the bulk of our incoming migrants come from southern Europe and 25 percent of Luxembourg’s population are non-nationals. Thus, the EU has already achieved a greater level of inclusion with the Maastricht Treaty.

However, much work remains. Since the EU citizenship provisions granted in the Maastricht Treaty, ASTI has broadened its scope of action and advocates today for equal rights for all residents in Luxembourg, including the right to vote at all levels for all long-term residents.

Although ASTI welcomes EU citizenship, in particular because it strengthens integration within the EU, we are also aware that it creates new European boundaries and thus differentiates between EU and non-EU citizens. This runs counter to ASTI’s advocacy for equal rights anchored in the non-discrimination principle. Therefore, we see an inclusive EU as one that does not distinguish on the basis of citizenship.