Photo : Elena Dalibot

Article written by Alayna Garvin, Project Manager for Hors la rue

Hors la rue is a non-profit organisation that supports unaccompanied minors in Paris and the surrounding area.

Unaccompanied minors

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and UNICEF define an unaccompanied minor as a person who is under the age of 18 or the legal age of majority, is separated from both parents, and is not with and being cared for by a guardian or other adult who, by law or custom, is responsible for him or her.

In addition to unaccompanied minors, Hors la rue works with young people in dangerous situations. This includes young people up to the age of 21 who are in exploitative situations or engaging in at-risk activities.

In the Paris region, these children are often migrants, asylum seekers or in situations of exploitation. Although difficult to measure, the current estimates of unaccompanied children in the Paris region range from 3000 to 6000 people, and has clearly increased in the past decade.

The work of Hors la rue

The main goal of Hors la rue is to facilitate the transition for these children into general well-being and the appropriate child protection services to meet their needs.[1]

The organisation focuses on fieldwork and provides educational activities in its day-center. The educational team works to contact and build relationships with young people in order to find individual solutions to improve their daily life and to facilitate their transition to school enrolment and social services.

The majority of children that Hors la rue works with are of Eastern European origin due to historic ties of the organisation with Romanian non-profit organisations and the educational team’s Romanian speakers. These children are often Roma, living in shanty-settlements in the Paris region. Hors la rue also works with children of various other origins that are contacted through field work or partnerships with other organisations.

The vulnerability of Roma children is particularly concerning because the policies of dismantling settlements and deportation measures greatly impact these children. When these settlements are dismantled, those who are enroled in school have sometimes found their homes relocated to another district or moved, which then prohibits their access to education and further discourages their integration.

An increasing phenomenon

Since the organisation’s inauguration in 2002, Hors la rue has seen an expansion of the phenomenon of unaccompanied minors and at-risk youth. At the same time, it has also witnessed a disturbing decrease in capacities of state-run child protection services. This has compounded the already precarious situations for the young people with whom Hors la rue works.

The straining situation in which Hors la rue finds itself is two-fold: more children in more precarious situations are met with less opportunities to be integrated into the general social services structures.

Child protection services in France are carried out by the “Aide sociale a l’enfance (ASE).” The current organisation of the ASE has lead to inadequate coverage for unaccompannied minors and this can be seen in the following three phenomena:  1) institutional disincentive when dealing with Roma children, 2) cases of protection a minima, and 3) the absence of protection for minor victims of trafficking.

Dealing with Roma children has been a difficult issue for the ASE and other institutional actors. Hors la rue has noticed the extremely low ratio of children who are cared for: approximately 1% of children in the Paris region are cared for (twenty individuals out of the low estimate of 2000 children in need of child protection services). This seems to stem from the problem that institutional actors do not have solutions that are adapted to this population.

Cases of protection a minima refers to children who are given lodging, but who do not have access to education or a full psychological treatment. This happens to young people (usually non-Roma) between 15 and 18, until they reach majority. This approach gives minors low-cost lodging, but does not actually provide the protection they are due. This is not only a problem of budget choices and lack of personnel, but also represents a dismal situation for child protection services in France.

On top of the institutional problems in child protection services, mentioned above, protection for minor victims of trafficking does not exist in France. The networks that traffic these children are often difficult to prosecute, but though the children themselves are somewhat easily identified by the police. This identification should be followed with some sort of protection for them in order to get them out of dangerous situations and at minimum a referral to child protection services which are prepared to provide treatment. There is currently no collection of data on these children, which would be a first step towards providing them with the protection they deserve. A specific protocol for child protection services should also be implemented to ensure that these children are protected from those who exploit them.

Recommendations

Hors la rue recommends the following:
-         The implementation of better adapted strategies for Roma children by the ASE.
-         An increase in budget and personnel for the ASE, particularly in the departments 75 and 93, where a majority of Roma children are located.
-         Better training for ASE personnel to enable them to deal with Roma children, unaccompanied minors, and exploited children.
-         The implementation of a new victim-centered plan for protecting victims of trafficking and exploitation.

For individuals, Hors la rue recommends supporting non-profit organizations that work in the field and increasing awareness of the problems surrounding unaccompanied minors, Roma and child protection services.

Additionally, unaccompanied children may sometimes be identified on the street. Alert the appropriate organization if you are aware of such cases.


If you would like more information, please contact: alayna.garvin@horslarue.org
To become a member of Hors la rue, please contact: communication@horslarue.org


Hors la rue is partner of the TRANSEUROPA Festival and on specific events in Paris : On May 7th for the Video theatre performance simultaneously shown in Bologna and Discussion on Roma stereotypes ; on May 8th for the Anti Discrimination Day in Montreuil with a photo project; and on May 11th for the Anti Discrimnation Day in Paris.


[1] Hors la rue is a part of a regional plan for unaccompannied children called the Versini Plan, which includes two other non-profit organizations ( Red Cross and France Terre d’asile) and is mandated to accompany at-risk children in their transition to state-run services and school enrolment in partnership with Paris region child protection services.