Thousands of unaccompanied migrant children face unequal treatment across France, with gaps in care and strong regional disparities leaving some without shelter or support for months, a report warns. Under French law, anyone claiming to be a minor must be given shelter immediately, even before the first age checks.
Unaccompanied migrant minors are children and teenagers who arrive in France alone, often after dangerous journeys, hoping for safety and a chance at a new life.
Instead of consistent help, they face what two NGOs – Utopia 56 and the Association for Youth Rights and Support Toward Adulthood (Aadjam) – say is a lottery, where their future depends on which department they end up in.
The NGOs carried out a survey between late 2024 and early 2025. They spoke with lawyers, migrant rights groups and other non-profits in 38 French departments.
Psychological trauma, they say, is often ignored and that some children’s ages are judged “at a glance”, adding to unfair treatment.
"Some of these young people have had to survive on the streets for more than a year before being provided shelter and gaining access to their rights," Angelo Fiore, of Utopia 56, told RFI.
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Unequal support
The level of care depends on each department’s budget and how local authorities choose to spend it.
"For example, some young people are housed in Rennes but have to leave the shelter during the day and rely on meal vouchers to eat," said Fiore.
"In other facilities, the youth are accommodated 24/7 and supported by social workers. There are even sports activities organised."
About 397,000 young people are under France’s child protection services, including 31,900 who are legally adults. Departments pay for housing, schooling and other costs but often say it is too expensive.
Unaccompanied minors can ask for protection when they arrive but the report says their "first difficulty" is to "understand where and how to access it".
Many struggle to find someone to help, especially at night or on weekends.
When shelters are full and councils or charities cannot find a place, some minors are sent to a police station for the night. In other areas, there is no plan B, so they end up sleeping outside.
More than half of the 38 departments did not provide the health checkups these children are meant to have. When local authorities dispute a child’s age, juvenile judges often end up recognising they really are minors.
This story was adapted from the original version in French
