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A UN official stated on Thursday that France is engaging in “serious and systematic breaches” of the rights of unaccompanied migrant minors, resulting in numerous children being homeless, lacking fundamental support, and enduring harsh circumstances.

The UN Committee on Children’s Rights stated that France offers support to unaccompanied minors, yet expressed concern that incorrect age evaluation methods resulted in several migrant children being incorrectly classified as adults.

This prevents them from accessing the child protection system, and places them “at significant risk of encountering trafficking, abuse, neglect, and police violence,” according to the report.

It mentioned that there were no detailed official statistics regarding the number of unaccompanied migrant children impacted, yet it cautioned that the issue was “widespread and ongoing.”

The panel, consisting of 18 independent specialists responsible for overseeing how nations apply the Convention on the Rights of the Child, concluded that France had violated its duties.

Paris, it stated, had breached numerous children’s rights, such as the right to health care and education, as well as the ban on detaining children for migration-related issues and subjecting them to inhumane or degrading treatment.

It pointed out that the assumption of being a minor is only used in France until the first age determination decision is reached, implying that children who are incorrectly classified as adults are considered as such throughout their lengthy procedural period.

It warned that many are “left to survive on the streets, in parks, or in informal temporary camps, lacking sufficient food and clean water, and without access to medical care or schooling.”

The committee cautioned that “the percentage of individuals declared minors following their age re-evaluations has been reversed between 50 and 80 percent.”

It also recorded significant challenges faced by unaccompanied migrant children passing through France on their way to Britain, who receive no support from the French child protection system.

Several of them were held in airport lounges or other border detention facilities, described in the report as a “disproportionate and thus arbitrary” loss of freedom, with the warning that this negatively affects children’s psychological well-being.

The panel, whose views are not mandatory but hold significant influence, urged France to assume the best about individuals’ minority status.

In addition to other suggestions, it also called on the country to provide sufficient housing, food, and water for all individuals who identify as unaccompanied migrant children, ensuring that no child is forced to reside in an informal camp or on the streets.

In a reply to the committee, obtained by AFP, the French government emphasized that the 2023-2027 strategic plan for youth judicial protection “provided improved and unified assistance to targeted and especially vulnerable groups,” such as unaccompanied minors.

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