France: Submission to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

[1] Human Rights Watch, “Submission to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on France – 66th pre-sessional, 2020,” January 21, 2020, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/01/21/submission-committee-economic-social-and-cultural-rights-france.

[2] Human Rights Watch exchange with Collectif des Familles Unies, a family group for relatives of French nationals detained in northeast Syria, July 28, 2023.

[3] “Rapatriées de camps djihadistes en Syrie, dix femmes mises en examen et écrouées en France,” Le Monde/AFP, October 24, 2022,https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2022/10/24/rapatriees-de-camps-en-syrie-dix-femmes-mises-en-examen-et-ecrouees_6147169_3210.html https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2022/10/24/rapatriees-de-camps-en-syrie-dix-femmes-mises-en-examen-et-ecrouees_6147169_3210.html (accessed October 31, 2022).

[4] “France Repatriates 15 women and 32 children from Syria jihadist camps,” France 24, January 24, 2023, https://amp.france24.com/en/france/20230124-france-repatriates-15-women-32-children-from-syria-jihadist-camps (accessed March 21, 2023).

[5] Republic of France, Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, “Repatriation of children and mothers from north-east Syria (4 July 2023),” July 4, 2023, https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files/syria/news/article/repatriation-of-children-and-mothers-from-north-east-syria-04-07-23 (accessed August 23, 2023).

[6] These children fled Syria with their mothers in 2018 and were deported to France from Turkey in 2018 and 2019.

[7] Human Rights Watch, “My Son is Just another Kid”: Experiences of Children Repatriated from Camps for ISIS Suspects and Their Families in Northeast Syria (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2022), https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/11/21/my-son-just-another-kid/experiences-children-repatriated-camps-isis-suspects-and.

[8] Human Rights Watch interview with psychiatrist (name and details withheld by Human Rights Watch), June 10, 2022.

[9] Letter from French attorney to the French Defender of Rights, December 2022; copy provided to Human Rights Watch by the author.

[10] Sara González, “France sets up controversial registry to monitor children of jihadists repatriated from Syria and Iraq,” El País, April 28, 2023, https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-04-28/france-sets-up-controversial-registry-to-monitor-children-of-jihadists-repatriated-from-syria-and-iraq.html (accessed July 31, 2023); Human Rights Watch communication with a representative of Collectif des Familles Unies, July 28, 2023.

[11] “Syria: Repatriations Lag for Foreigners with Alleged ISIS Ties,” Human Rights Watch news release, December 15, 2022, https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/12/15/syria-repatriations-lag-foreigners-alleged-isis-ties.

[12] Ibid. See also Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, “Technical Visit to the Northeast of the Syrian Arab Republic: End of Mission Statement,” July 21, 2023, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/
documents/issues/terrorism/sr/statements/EoM-Visit-to-Syria-20230721.pdf (accessed August 3, 2023).

[13] “Syria: Repatriations Lag for Foreigners with Alleged ISIS Ties,” Human Rights Watch news release, December 15, 2022, https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/12/15/syria-repatriations-lag-foreigners-alleged-isis-ties. See also Courtney Kube and Carol E. Lee, “ISIS infiltrated a refugee camp to recruit fighters. Inside the Biden admin’s plan to stop it,” NBC, October 6, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/isis-syria-al-hol-camp-population-reduced-biden-administration-plan-rcna50877 (accessed February 15, 2023).

[14] Rojava Information Center, High Value Arrest and High Profile Assassinations Kick Off New Year, February 7, 2021, https://rojavainformationcenter.com/2021/02/report-high-value-arrest-and-high-profile-assassinations-kick-off-new-year/ (accessed September 8, 2022); Jane Arraf, “Violence Erupts at Syrian Camp for ISIS Families, Leaving a Child Dead,” New York Times, February 9, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/world/middleeast/syria-camp-violence.html (accessed September 8, 2022).

[15] United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Joint Statement on the Killing of a Humanitarian Aid Worker, Al Hol Camp,” statement by UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, Mr. Imran Riza, and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, Mr. Muhannad Hadi, January 12, 2022, https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/united-nations-resident-coordinator-and-humanitarian-coordinator-14 (accessed September 8, 2022); “Syria: UN Human Rights Chief condemns brutal killing of two girls, alarmed by sharp rise in violence at Al-Hol camp,” Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) press release, November 18, 2022, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/11/syria-un-human-rights-chief-condemns-brutal-killing-two-girls-alarmed-sharp (accessed July 25, 2023).

[16] “Syria: Repatriations Lag for Foreigners with Alleged ISIS Ties,” Human Rights Watch news release, December 15, 2022, https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/12/15/syria-repatriations-lag-foreigners-alleged-isis-ties.

[17] Ibid. See also Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, “Technical Visit to the Northeast of the Syrian Arab Republic: End of Mission Statement,” July 2023, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/
documents/issues/terrorism/sr/statements/EoM-Visit-to-Syria-20230721.pdf, paras. 9-10; and UN Human Rights Council, “Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic,” A/HRC/51/45, September 14, 2022, https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/iici-syria/report-coi-syria-september2022 (accessed January 17, 2023).

[18] Médecins Sans Frontières, Between two fires: Danger and desperation in Syria’s Al-Hol camp, November 2022, https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/sites/default/files/documents/MSB141137%28High%29.pdf (accessed July 25, 2023).

[19] The United Nations special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism said the separation practice “constitutes at a minimum, in the Special Rapporteur’s view a disappearance under international law, in direct contravention of articles 9, 19, and 37 of the CRC, articles 7 and 9 of the ICCPR, and articles 1, 2 and 16 of the CAT. Such systematic acts may further engage core international crimes under a universal jurisdiction framework.” https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/terrorism/sr/statements/EoM-Visit-to-Syria-20230721.pdf, para. 9.

[20] “UN Experts Alarmed by Reports of Boys Taken from Camp Roj by De Facto Authorities,” OHCHR press release, February 16, 2023, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/02/syria-un-experts-alarmed-reports-boys-taken-camp-roj-de-facto-authorities#:~:text=GENEVA%20(16%20February%202023)%20%E2%80%93,authorities%20in%20North%2Deast%20Syria (accessed July 25, 2023).

[21] Communication from French attorney to Human Rights Watch, February 8, 2023.

[22] Human Rights Watch visits to Houry center, northeast Syria, June 24, 2019 and May 15, 2022. See also “Syria: Repatriations Lag for Foreigners with Alleged ISIS Ties,” Human Rights Watch news release, December 15, 2022.

[24] Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, “Technical Visit to the Northeast of the Syrian Arab Republic: End of Mission Statement,” July 21, 2023, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/terrorism/sr/statements/EoM-Visit-to-Syria-20230721.pdf, para. 15.

[26] Ibid., para. 14.

[27] “France violated rights of French children detained in Syria by failing to repatriate them, UN committee finds,” OHCHR press release, February 24, 2022, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/02/france-violated-rights-french-children-detained-syria-failing-repatriate (accessed April 6, 2023).

[28] “Requests for repatriation of applicants’ daughters and grandchildren held in camps in Syria rejected without any formal decision or judicial review ensuring lack of arbitrariness: violation of Article 3 § 2 of Protocol No. 4 to the Convention,” European Court of Human Rights press release, September 14, 2022, https://t.co/HO884JBPnK (accessed April 6, 2023).

[29] « Français dans les camps syriens : Paris enfreint la Convention contre la torture, estime l’ONU », Le Monde/AFP, January 21, 2023, https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2023/01/21/francais-dans-les-camps-syriens-paris-enfreint-la-convention-contre-la-torture-estime-l-onu_6158808_3210.html (accessed April 6, 2023); High Council for Human Rights of Iran, “France accused of violating the Convention against Torture,” January 23, 2023, https://humanrights.eadl.ir/en/News/france-accused-of-violating-the-convention-against-torture (accessed July 31, 2023).

[30] Human Rights Watch, Enforced Misery: The Degrading Treatment of Migrant Children and Adults in Northern France (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2021), https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/10/07/enforced-misery/degrading-treatment-migrant-children-and-adults-northern-france; Human Rights Watch interview with Utopia 56, Paris, March 27, 2023.

[31] Most recently, for instance, the Calvados prefecture and the mayor of Ouistreham, a commune on the English Channel about 20 km northeast of Caen, appealed a June 2023 administrative court order to install such facilities. A Conseil d’État judge upheld the court order the following month. CE Juge des Référés, Ordonnance du 3 juillet 2023, Nos. 475136, 475262 (on file with Human Rights Watch). See also Frédérique Jourdaa, “La commune de Ouistreham devra bien assurer aux migrants un accès à l’eau, tranche le Conseil d’État,” Ouest-France, July 5, 2023, https://www.ouest-france.fr/normandie/ouistreham-14150/la-commune-de-ouistreham-devra-assurer-aux-migrants-un-acces-a-leau-26b445ee-1aff-11ee-8a0b-73a6c2cbea8b (accessed August 23, 2023).

[32] Défenseure des droits, “Visite de la défenseure des droits mardi 22 et mercredi 23 septembre à Calais,” September 24, 2020, pp. 1-2, https://www.defenseurdesdroits.fr/fr/communique-de-presse/2020/09/visite-de-la-defenseure-des-droits-mardi-22-et-mercredi-23-septembre-a (accessed August 23, 2023).

[33] See, for example, S.E.M.A. v. France, Communication No. 130/2020, Committee on the Rights of the Child, U.N. Doc. CRC/C/92/D/130/2020 (March 6, 2023).

[34] Code de l’éducation, art. L.111-1; Ministère de l’Éducation nationale, Circulaire n° 2012-141, section 1.2 (October 2, 2012).

[35] See Direction des affaires juridiques et Direction des patients, des usagers et des associations, Hôpitaux de Paris, Accueil et accompagnement des mineurs non accompagnés : points de repères juridiques et recommandations (Paris: Hôpitaux de Paris, 2018).

[36] See, for example, Michael Garcia Bochenek (Human Rights Watch), “French Police Forcibly Oust Undocumented Migrants from Mayotte,” April 27, 2023, https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/27/french-police-forcibly-oust-undocumented-migrants-mayotte; Jérôme Talpin, “À Mayotte, Darmanin annonce la prolongation de l’opération « Wuambushu »,” Le Monde, June 26, 2023, https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2023/06/26/a-mayotte-darmanin-annonce-la-prolongation-de-l-operation-wuambushu_6179249_823448.html (accessed August 23, 2023); Meerie Jesuthasan, “‘Insulted, Humiliated, Hunted’: Plight of Migrants as Slums Razed in French Territory of Mayotte,” Guardian, May 31, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/may/31/insulted-humiliated-hunted-plight-of-migrants-as-slums-razed-in-french-territory-of-mayotte (accessed August 23, 2023).

[37] See, for example, Julia Pascual, “Mayotte dans l’expectative, en attendant l’opération de « décasage » d’envergure « Wuambushu »,” Le Monde, April 25, 2023, https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2023/04/25/a-mayotte-en-attendant-l-operation-wuambushu_6170894_3224.html (accessed August 23, 2023).