Human Trafficking in  [France]  [other countries]
Street Children in  [France]  [other countries]
Child Prostitution in  [France]  [other countries]
 

Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery

French Republic (France)                                                         [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

France [map] is located in W Europe and is bordered by the English Channel (N), the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Biscay (W), Spain and Andorra (SW), the Mediterranean Sea (S), Switzerland and Italy (SE), and Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium (NE).  Its capital and largest city is Paris.  France is in the midst of transition, from a well-to-do modern economy that has featured extensive government ownership and intervention to one that relies more on market mechanisms.  The government has lowered income taxes and introduced measures to boost employment and reform the pension system.  In addition, it is focusing on the problems of the high cost of labor and labor market inflexibility resulting from the 35-hour workweek and restrictions on lay-offs.

France is a destination country for persons trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Romania, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Cameroon, and other nations in Eastern Europe and Africa are the primary source countries for women trafficked for sexual exploitation, although some South American and Asian women are also trafficked to France. A majority of the estimated 18,000 women in France’s commercial sex trade are likely victims of trafficking. Romania and Bulgaria are the primary source countries for men trafficked to France for sexual exploitation. Involuntary servitude among domestic workers, primarily young women and girls, is also a problem. One NGO reports that there have been instances of such exploitation by diplomats serving in France. There are reports that French Guiana is a destination for women and children trafficked from Brazil for sexual exploitation.   - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2008   [full country report]

 

 

CAUTION:  The following links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in France.  Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false.  No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

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RFE/RL Newsline, 02-08-05

[69] ROMANIAN PREMIER INTERVIEWED IN 'LE MONDE' - Prime Minister Adrian Nastase said in an interview to the French daily "Le Monde" on 2 August that Romania finds itself in an "extremely delicate and difficult situation" as a result of the Romany criminal networks allegedly engaging in human trafficking and forcing handicapped children into begging in France.

 

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Bur of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005

CHILDREN - In October authorities arrested 15 persons and rescued 7 babies in connection with the baby trafficking ring discovered in 2004, and five persons were arrested. A Roma family in Bulgaria headed the network, which sold babies to other Roma families for approximately $6 thousand to $7,200 (5 thousand to 6 thousand euros). OCRETH continued to work with Bulgarian authorities on the investigation. The head of the ring was to be prosecuted under a 2003 trafficking in person's law.

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – In 2003 police arrested 67 adults in a Roma encampment outside Paris and charged them with organizing sexual enslavement of Roma children who were kidnapped from Romania, brought to the country, raped to make them obey, and sent out on the streets of Paris and its suburbs to steal and prostitute themselves. According to press reports, the children were forced to earn $240 (200 euros) a day or face severe physical punishment. The child‑traffickers remained in jail awaiting trial at the end of the year.

Police estimated that 90 percent of the 15 thousand to 18 thousand female prostitutes working in the country were trafficking victims, and that 3 thousand to 8 thousand children were forced into prostitution and labor, including begging.

Traffickers used various methods to recruit and retain victims including force, fraud, confiscating the victim's identification papers, isolating him or her culturally, and abusing him or her physically or psychologically. Some victims came to the country willing to work as prostitutes, not knowing they were going to become trafficking victims. Traffickers kidnapped or "bought" some women and girls and sold them to Balkans-based prostitution networks, which smuggled the victims into the country. NGOs and police characterized the bulk of traffickers in the country as "micro-trafficking networks" that included both citizens and foreigners.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2004

[52] The Committee welcomes the legislative and other efforts aimed at providing protection of children from economic exploitation. However, the Committee is concerned that illegal networks of forced labor continue to operate and that foreign children fall victims to networks that are not countered vigorously enough.

[54] The Committee notes that, following the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Stockholm in 1996, a National Plan of Action was adopted to protect children from abuse and ill treatment. The following year, in 1997, protection of abused children was declared a national priority. However, the Committee is concerned at the occurrence of trafficking of children, prostitution and related issues, as noted in the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography following his mission to France in November 2002.

Shock human trafficking case

Ten Bulgarians involved in trafficking women to France to work as prostitutes have been arrested following a joint operation by Bulgarian and French authorities, the national investigation service said Friday.

Between 2002 and 2005, the group transferred at least 105 Bulgarian girls to France and forced them to work as prostitutes, Ivanova said.

Bulgaria, France Crash Human Trafficking Channel

A channel for traffic in people to France has been crushed by the Bulgarian and French police.

Police in Bulgaria's Russe and French Marseille acted in close cooperation in crushing the channel. Six people were questioned in the Bulgarian city and 5 homes were searched. A total of 20 cell phones, many personal belongings as well as bank transfers documents were confiscated during the search.

65 convicted in French child abuse trial

Key figures in the largest child abuse trial ever held in France were sentenced to up to 28 years in jail yesterday after a jury convicted them of raping, molesting and prostituting children, including their own.

Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 1   Civil Liberties: 1   Status: Free

Human Rights Overview by Human Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide

Domestic slavery: servitude, au pairs and mail-order brides - Report

B. DOMESTIC SLAVERY AND SERVITUDE

11. In France alone, the CCEM has taken up the cases of over 400 victims of domestic slavery since its creation in 1994.

RIGHTS OF THE CHILD - Report submitted by Juan Miguel Petit, Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography - Addendum - Mission to France, 25-29 November 2002 [PDF]

SUMMARY - The report focuses on the sale of children in the context of trafficking of children and child prostitution, and on child pornography and its links with domestic child sexual abuse.  Concerning the sale of children, trafficking and child prostitution, the report relates information presented to the Special Rapporteur by the Children’s Ombudsman (Défenseure des enfants), the police, NGOs, as well as government ministries.  According to this information, children are being trafficked into France primarily from Eastern Europe, notably Romania, and from West Africa, but also from Asia including such countries as India and China.  Many, if not most, of these children are under the control of trafficking networks and are forced into prostitution.  The Government of France is starting to work with the authorities of the countries concerned, in particular with Romania with which it signed a bilateral agreement in 2001 with respect to returning children.

V.  CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

73. Children are entering or travelling through France for the purposes of theft, begging and prostitution.  Many of them are trafficked by force while others travel of their own volition - some later becoming caught up in trafficking networks.  The majority of these children come from Eastern Europe - notably Romania - and from West Africa.

RFE/RL Newsline, 02-08-05

[69] ROMANIAN PREMIER INTERVIEWED IN 'LE MONDE' - Prime Minister Adrian Nastase said in an interview to the French daily "Le Monde" on 2 August that Romania finds itself in an "extremely delicate and difficult situation" as a result of the Romany criminal networks allegedly engaging in human trafficking and forcing handicapped children into begging in France.

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Human Trafficking in  [France]  [other countries]
Street Children in  [France]  [other countries]
Child Prostitution in  [France]  [other countries]