GENEVA

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on Thursday found that France is responsible for "grave and systematic violations" of the rights of unaccompanied migrant children, citing widespread homelessness, lack of care, and "degrading" living conditions.

In a report, the committee said that while France recognizes unaccompanied minors as children in need of care and protection, many are wrongly treated as adults after "flawed age assessment procedures" often based on appearance or unreliable medical tests conducted without legal or guardian assistance.

The presumption of minority, a safeguard that should protect the child until proven otherwise, is applied in France until an initial age assessment decision has been made, it noted and said: "This means that a person who claims to be a child but has been deemed to be an adult after the initial assessment will be treated as such throughout the procedure, which can take up to eight months or even longer."

The committee warned that many of these children are left on the streets or in makeshift camps without food, health care, or education, adding that they face "high risk of being exposed to trafficking, abuse, maltreatment and police violence."

The inquiry concluded that France had breached multiple obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including the rights to health, education, and protection from arbitrary detention.

It urged Paris to apply the presumption of minority, ensure adequate housing, food, and water for all unaccompanied children, and end the practice of leaving minors in informal camps or on the streets.