A banner reading "We are homeless unaccompanied minors" is displayed near a camp occupied by migrants, in Toulouse, southwestern France, on August 29, 2022. VALENTINE CHAPUIS / AFP
France is committing "grave and systematic violations" of the rights of unaccompanied migrant children, leaving many homeless, deprived of basic care and in degrading conditions, a UN watchdog said on Thursday, October 16. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child noted that France provides protection to unaccompanied minors, but warned that flawed age assessment procedures led to many migrant children being wrongly treated as adults. This leaves them without access to the child protection system, and puts them "at high risk of being exposed to trafficking, abuse, maltreatment and police violence," the report said.
It noted there were no comprehensive official figures on the number of unaccompanied migrant children affected, but warned the problem was "widespread and persistent."
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Unaccompanied foreign minors in France: 'I can't tell my mother everything. It would kill her'
