Foreign Minors and Seeking Asylum in France

Between the challenges of displacement and the difficulty of articulating fear, child asylum seekers require age-appropriate procedures that grant them a voice and protection.
Here is an overview of how the applications of foreign minors are evaluated in France, and who supports them on their journey to safety.

01 - Obtaining Care from Child Social Welfare:

Isolated foreign minors ("unaccompanied minors") must benefit from child protection measures. You are considered an isolated foreign minor if you are under 18 years old and do not have a legal guardian in France.

The French state must protect the minor until the age of majority (18 years), even if they do not submit an asylum application.

You can file an asylum application for minors, but it is preferable to begin by requesting child protection measures from the Child Social Welfare (Aide Sociale à l'Enfance - ASE) of the department where they are located, which is a dedicated institution present in every department. The agency covers the accommodation, healthcare, and education of minors.

To determine whether to take charge of you, the departmental Child Social Welfare will verify, during an assessment interview, that the person concerned is under 18 years of age and is genuinely isolated in France:

- The minor must recount their story from the time they were in their country of origin;

- If they possess identity documents, these will be examined and authenticated;

- The person concerned may also undergo a medical examination to assess their age.

- In many departments, the minor may be referred to the prefecture, which will take fingerprints, a photograph, and collect personal information to cross-reference against databases concerning foreign nationals.

- You may refuse to attend the prefecture appointment, but this could reinforce the Child Social Welfare's doubts regarding the minor's age.

1 - The First Legal Path: Child Protection (ASE):

• Age and Isolation Assessment: The relevant service conducts an interview with the individuals concerned to assess the credibility of their accounts regarding their age and journey conditions.

• Services Provided: Once recognized as a minor, the ASE fully covers all accommodation, healthcare, and educational expenses.

* Warning!: Child Social Welfare cannot refuse protection to a minor on the grounds that they have a family member in France (who cannot or does not wish to take care of them) or that someone has temporarily sheltered them.

02 - Where Does the Minor Go for the Assessment Interview?

In some departments, the minor must report to the departmental council where the ASE office is located. In other departments, they must report to an assessment and reception center:

*- In Paris, the service is called the Evaluation Mechanism for Isolated Foreign Minors - Red Cross (Croix-Rouge): 5 rue du Moulin Joly, 75011 Paris (Couronnes metro station, line 2). It may take several days before obtaining an appointment for an assessment interview.

*- In Seine-Saint-Denis, the service is called PEMIE, located at: 1-15 rue Benoît Frachon, 93000 Bobigny.
*- In Val-de-Marne, the service is called PEOMIE, located at: 6 rue Albert Einstein, 94000 Créteil.
 

- While awaiting the protection decision, the Child Social Welfare (ASE) must ensure that the minor is safe.

- You must present yourself at the interview site to receive the ASE's decision two or three days after the date of the interview.

03 - When Child Social Welfare Refuses Care for the Minor:

The minor can directly petition the juvenile court judge to issue a placement order under the Child Social Welfare (ASE). This procedure may take several months, but they will not be required to wait for the court's decision before applying for asylum.

- If residing in the Paris region, they can obtain procedural assistance from the duty office of the Association for the Defense of Isolated Foreign Youth (ADJIE) at: 49 ter avenue de Flandre, 75019 Paris (Stalingrad metro station / lines 2, 5, and 7).

In other regions, there is certainly an association available to help.

04 - Applying for Asylum as an Unaccompanied Minor:

Requesting care from Child Social Welfare (ASE) does not preclude applying for asylum.

The procedures are the same as for adults. However, the minor must be accompanied by an ad hoc administrator (Administrateur Ad Hoc - AAH) to submit and file the application. The administrator represents and assists them in all procedural steps, though the appointed administrator is not necessarily specialized in asylum matters; assistance should be sought from specialized associations.

The prefecture refers the case to the public prosecutor so that the latter appoints an ad hoc administrator (AAH) for the minor, even if the minor is already under the care of the Child Social Welfare (ASE).

- The "Dublin" procedure cannot be applied to minors (Dublin III Regulation), and the French state must examine the asylum application even if the minor has not received a response or had their fingerprints taken in another European country.

On the other hand, a minor cannot lodge a new asylum application in France if they have already applied in another European country and that country has either granted or rejected their application.

Minors cannot reside in reception centers for asylum seekers (CADA), nor are they eligible for the asylum seeker allowance (ADA). Only the Child Social Welfare (ASE) is authorized to provide shelter for unaccompanied minors.