French Lawmakers Propose Solutions for Unaccompanied Migrant Youth Involved in Crime

Deputies Jean-François Eliaou (LREM) and Antoine Savignat (LR) led a parliamentary mission on the situation of minors living from delinquency in Paris, Montpellier, Toulouse, Nantes, Rennes, etc., and who refuse any support from child welfare services. They represent about 10% of the total number of unaccompanied minors (40,000) taken care of by the departments, at the end of 2019, according to the parliamentary report.

The work of the deputies consisted in determining whether networks are exploiting unaccompanied minors and which ones, reports Ouest France who met them. About fifty expert hearings were commissioned. It emerges that these adolescents are exploited by networks that influence their lives. Hence the difficulty of placing them under protection. Their mission is to commit thefts in exchange for accommodation, funding their drug addiction or repayment of a debt.

At the end of the mission, the elected officials made 18 proposals, including the multiplication of specialized brigades, like the one created in Bordeaux. This proposal is justified by the complex and technical nature of the investigations carried out to dismantle these networks. Due to the increase in crime, especially in Paris, where the number of unaccompanied minors referred to justice increased by 87% between 2018 and 2019, Jean-François Eliaou (LREM) and Antoine Savignat suggest increasing sanctions for all those who refuse to give their fingerprints. They also suggest trying unaccompanied minors who have no certain identity or guarantee of representation, as soon as they are brought before the court, in a single hearing.

Since the life of unaccompanied minors is not a long quiet river, the two elected officials recommend multidisciplinary assistance (medical, legal, educational, social) in places dedicated to them. This will prevent them from being mixed with other young people taken care of by child welfare. They also suggest following the example of Belgium, which has created an Esperanto center that welcomes young victims of exploitation (sexual, economic or domestic), where educators speaking several languages, a social worker, a criminologist, a psychologist and a psychomotor therapist take care of them.

In France, the Judicial Protection of Youth is working on the creation of an experimental 12-place accommodation center for minor and young adult victims of trafficking or under the influence of networks.