France France or Death

June 10, 2011

Comment: In an article dated June 10th 2011, the French daily newspaper “Libération” published an article on the suicide of A.M, a 17-year-old unaccompanied Afghan minor, who has migrated to France.

On November 2009, the young A.M. finally reached Paris after he crossed Iran, Turkey, Greece and Italy. In France, he hoped to become plumber to send money to his family in Afghanistan. At first, he lived in the streets, in shelters and then was placed in a hotel by the social assistance.

Beginning of May 2011, his body was found hanged on a tree in a park. According to the Afghan community living in Paris, the teenager had committed suicide because of neglect by social services. Allegedly child protection services threatened him saying they would send him back to Afghanistan the day he reaches the age of majority. According to his friends, the teenager panicked and committed suicide rather to return to his country.

On the other hand, Olivier Camus, head of Child Protection Services in Paris, denies all these accusations. According to him, child protection had no intention of stopping their support and even found a new training for him. According to him it was rather the teenager who faced difficulties since he had integration problems and did not get along with his peers.

According to several NGOs working with foreign unaccompanied minors in Europe, the process for taking these children into care is standard and does not take the minor’s profile into account. The daily life in the institutions is, for example, not always adapted to young people who have lived on the street and travelled. Furthermore, though resilient young people do enter the system, it is more difficult for the ones sent by their families, among whom some want to work. The burden put on these minors can be heavy to carry. They are caught between their own wishes and their parents’ expectations.

Besides, the impact on minors of being faced with refusal in regularizing their situation is very important. This discourages them and some prefer to leave the centre in order to seek protection and try to settle elsewhere. The young A.M committed suicide instead of leaving. This shows the security that could be provided to migrant minors by granting a legal status in the country of destination.

Comments: Noémie Fritz, Project officer, Terre des hommes Kosovo.