[ Human Trafficking, Country-by-Country ]

FRANCE (Tier 1) – Extracted in part from the U.S. State Dept 2023 TIP Report

The Government of France fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.  The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore France remained on Tier 1.  These efforts included investigating more suspects and convicting more traffickers.  The government also indicted a municipal official accused of trafficking and identified and assisted more victims.  The government continued delivering comprehensive training to a variety of officials; and law enforcement continued participating in extensive international investigations and partnerships, which resulted in the identification of victims and arrest of suspects.  Although the government meets the minimum standards, it prosecuted fewer suspects and continued to lack an NRM to ensure uniform proactive victim identification and referral to care.  Funding for victim assistance decreased for the second consecutive year and was generally insufficient.  Compensation and restitution for victims remained extremely rare.  Law enforcement authorities continued to arrest and prosecute child victims of forced begging and forced criminality and deport undocumented migrants from Mayotte, an overseas French department, without screening for trafficking indicators.  Furthermore, the government again did not take effective steps to address the 3,000 to 4,000 unaccompanied Comorian children at risk for trafficking in Mayotte.  Finally, the government did not sufficiently disaggregate data between trafficking and other forms of exploitation or between sex and labor trafficking, stymying efforts to assess labor trafficking and diagnose and address trafficking trends.

Prioritized Recommendations

Coordinate and centralize the timely collection of trafficking data across the government, including sufficiently disaggregating data between trafficking and other forms of exploitation, as well as between sex and labor trafficking.

Adopt an NRM for all forms of trafficking.

Increase efforts to proactively identify and provide assistance to trafficking victims in all regions and departments, both domestic and overseas, including for vulnerable populations like asylum-seekers and child victims of forced begging and criminality.

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers, and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should involve significant prison terms.

Increase funding and resources specifically for anti-trafficking coordination and victim assistance, including adequate funding for NGOs providing assistance.

Increase interagency coordination to investigate and prevent labor trafficking.

Systematically train all front-line officials, including labor inspectors, police, prosecutors, and judges, on a victim-centered approach to investigating and prosecuting labor trafficking and identifying victims.

Vigorously investigate labor trafficking and prosecute these crimes as trafficking rather than labor code violations.

Allow formal victim identification without requiring cooperation or interaction with law enforcement and by entities other than law enforcement officials, including by civil society, social workers, and healthcare professionals.

Ensure adequate training for law enforcement investigators on techniques to dismantle human trafficking organizations operating on the internet and other technologies.

Consistently screen all migrants for trafficking indicators, including unaccompanied children in Mayotte.

Ensure victims are not inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked, especially child victims of forced begging and criminality.

Adopt a NAP with defined timeframe, a dedicated budget for implementation, detailed measures, and monitoring indicators.

Provide adequate resources for child victims, including improving the quality of shelters and specialized assistance, especially of forced begging and criminality.

Increase trafficking survivor access to restitution and compensation and increase prosecutor’s efforts to systematically request restitution for survivors during criminal trials, including for victims lacking legal status.

Offer the reflection period to all victims, including migrants and victims of forced begging and criminality.

Strengthen international law enforcement cooperation to prevent and investigate child sex tourism and continue to prosecute and convict perpetrators.

Ensure sufficient resources are provided to the national rapporteur and the anti-trafficking coordinator.

Increase worker protections by prohibiting recruitment or placement fees charged to workers by labor recruiters and ensuring employers pay any recruitment fees.

Establish adequate accommodation centers dedicated to adult male trafficking victims that take into account the specific needs of these trafficking victims.

Increase survivor engagement when forming policies, programs, and trainings.

Increase efforts to pursue financial crime investigations in tandem with human trafficking cases.