UNICEF France: Most child victims of criminal exploitation are unaccompanied minors from Africa

The majority of minors exploited for criminal activities in France are unaccompanied children, with more than 80% coming from African countries, primarily Algeria and Morocco, according to a new UNICEF France report marking World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

The report, titled “Victims First: Protecting Children from Criminal Exploitation”, says boys account for about 89% of identified victims. It cautions that the figures only reflect minors tracked and supported by specialized organizations, excluding those in precarious situations, such as in certain neighborhoods, who may be exploited for crimes like robbery, prostitution, or drug trafficking without being officially recognized as trafficking victims.

The study notes that political and media debates in France have increasingly focused on minors in conflict with the law, with tougher legislation and rhetoric. However, it warns this approach often overlooks the hidden reality of children under the control of exploiters operating with near-total impunity.

According to France’s governmental body for combating prostitution and human trafficking, two-thirds of criminal exploitation victims in 2022 were minors. Many, whether French or foreign, share backgrounds of poverty, isolation, and school dropout.

Their young age, social vulnerability, and lack of clear alternatives make them prime targets for recruitment, often via social media, on the streets, at borders, or even within their own families, in exchange for promises of shelter, money, or under threats. They are exploited in drug transport, theft, smuggling, or violent acts, and many suffer multiple forms of exploitation simultaneously, including sexual abuse, forced labor, and criminal activity.

The report highlights weak identification and referral systems for trafficking victims in France, meaning the scope of the problem is underestimated. In 2022, only 352 victims, adults and children combined, were identified by specialized organizations, dropping to 236 in 2023.

Too often, the report says, children are seen as offenders rather than victims, leading to detention, prosecution, and even imprisonment without long-term solutions after release.

France, it notes, is bound by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Warsaw Convention, and the Palermo Protocol, all of which require preventing such situations, protecting children, and prosecuting those responsible.

“This report calls on authorities to act without delay by developing a strategy to combat the criminal exploitation of minors, aligned with child protection policies and anti-trafficking plans,” said Adeline Hazan, president of UNICEF France.

She stressed that such a strategy must focus on three key areas: prevention, victim identification, and protection.