An investigation undertaken by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has concluded that France is committing “grave and systematic violations” of the rights of unaccompanied migrant children. In particular, it notes that flawed age assessment procedures are resulting in children being left homeless on the streets where they are exposed to violence and abuse, and that the detention of unaccompanied minors at Paris Charles de Gaulle is “disproportionate and therefore arbitrary.”
According to the CRC report, which was undertaken as per a procedure set out in the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in addition to flaws in age determination procedures–where physical appearance is often a determining factor, interviews are brief, and children are often alone–there are important deficiencies in the support available to unaccompanied minors. In particular, it notes that when individuals claim to be children but an initial assessment classifies them as adults, they are effectively excluded from both child and adult welfare if they challenge the decision. “The Committee learned that during this procedure, which can last up to eight months, they receive no state support and live outside, in parks, makeshift camps and other temporary locations, dependent on individuals and non-governmental organization services for food and basic needs.”
The committee also notes the fact that while France provides that individuals recognised as unaccompanied migrant children are to be placed in a specialised accommodation centre, where they receive social and psychological support among other services, in reality there are not enough of these facilities. Instead, children are being placed at other sites including hotels where they live without supervision or appropriate care–a situation that the committee describes as “unacceptable precariousness.”
The committee also notes the small proportion of unaccompanied children who apply for asylum (in 2022, there were only 1,003 applications out of the 14,782 children in the child welfare system). Amongst the reasons for this, says the CRC, are lack of knowledge about asylum procedures; the lack of support available to guide minors through the process; the lack of mental health services (as applications may trigger trauma); and the absence of, or failure to appoint in sufficient time, guardians who can lodge their claims.
Disproportionate and Arbitrary Detention
According to the committee, France has breached its commitments under the Convention on the Rights of the Child in its detention of unaccompanied child migrants at the ‘waiting area’ at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. There are six beds for unaccompanied minors at the airport site, where French legislation provides they can be detained for four days (extendable twice for eight days). Although the country’s domestic law provides that unaccompanied child migrants may be held here in exceptional circumstances, statistics show that in reality, detention appears to be used extensively: in 2022, 321 children (and 81 UAMs) were detained here.
Referring its General Comment No. 23 (2017) (issued jointly with General Comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families), which clarifies that the detention of children as a “measure of last resort” is not applicable in immigration proceedings as it would conflict with the principle of the best interests of the child (and thus that children should never be detained for migration-related reasons), the committee concluded that the State Party has violated article 37(b) of the convention.
Moreover, it notes: “conditions in airport holding areas, where children are confined to a specific area, are similar to those in a closed detention center and considers that the deprivation of liberty of children for reasons related to their migration status, regardless of the duration of such detention, is generally disproportionate and therefore arbitrary within the meaning of article 37 (b) of the Convention.”
Origin of the Investigation
Article 13 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure (OPIC) provides that when the committee receives reliable information indicating grave or systematic violations of children’s rights by a State Party, the committee will investigate such allegations. This particular inquiry was requested by the Conseil Français des Associations pour les Droits de l’Enfant (French Council of Associations for the Rights of the Child) and Kids Empowerment (represented by counsel, namely, Camille Oberkampf and Delphine Mahé), who claimed that the rights of unaccompanied child migrants are violated across the country, specifically during age assessment procedures– with the result that they are denied access to the child protection system–and that some unaccompanied minors are deprived of their liberty. They noted that these practices have persisted for over 10 years, and are rooted in a legal framework that derogates from ordinary child protection law.
For more information about this procedure, see the Optional Protocol, Part III – Inquiry Procedure, Article 13 – here.
