Around 16,500 foreign nationals were held in detention centres across mainland France in 2025, but more than 60 percent were released without being deported, according to a report published on Tuesday.
The annual report, conducted by the organisations Forum réfugiés, France terre d’asile, Groupe SOS Solidarités, La Cimade and Solidarité Mayotte, found that 16,467 people were detained in detention centres in 2025, compared with 16,228 the previous year.
The detention centres are mainly used for two groups; people found to have committed immigration offences in France such as overstaying a visa or foreign nationals who are reported after serving a jail sentence in France.
Not everybody found to have committed an immigration offence will be sent to a detention centre; the most common course is to be issued with an OQTF (Obligation de quitter le territoire français) which is a notice advising you to leave France by a certain date. People who stay after that date may end up in a detention centre.
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