France and Morocco Sign Agreement on Protecting Unaccompanied Migrant Children

For the French Keeper of the Seals, this "declaration of intent" does not include the repatriation of these clandestine unaccompanied minors to France. He also does not specify the conditions governing any deportations.

This document rather announces mutual cooperation between departments and magistrates on the protection of this category of children. For the French Minister of Justice, this bilateral agreement aims to "manage" the problem of unaccompanied minors. "It is in particular a question of identifying these minors with a view to [probable] repatriation," specified the French Minister of Justice.

In his speech, Justice Minister Mohammed Benabdelkader pointed out that "the agreement is based on a series of measures determining the legislative framework under which the defenders of the rights of minors will act". According to him, the new agreement makes it possible to "trace a framework of cooperation in accordance with the United Nations Convention".