The UN agency for children, Unicef, denounced Thursday the stigmatization of unaccompanied foreign minors in France, whose fate and care have been the subject of heated debate since the attack on chopper perpetrated last Friday in front of the ex-premises of
Charlie Hebdo
.
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The alleged perpetrator of the attack, a 25-year-old Pakistani national indicted and imprisoned for "
attempted assassinations in connection with a terrorist enterprise
", was initially known by an identity giving him 18 years old and had just returned from exit from care for nearly three years by Social Assistance for Children as an “
unaccompanied minor
”.
"
Situations or problematic cases that have become in the media must not be used to generalize the subject and stigmatize unaccompanied minors
," Unicef worries Thursday.
After the attack last week, many voices on the right and on the far right called for a turn of the screw on access to this very protective status or, like the president of the National Rally Marine Le Pen, that these young people be "
repatriated to their country of origin
".
“
We are particularly worried about the rise of such comments about particularly vulnerable and vulnerable children.
We must react in a responsible manner to guarantee the protection to which they are entitled
”, affirms Sébastien Lyon, Director General of Unicef in France.
"
Unaccompanied minors are above all children who have the right to protection, whatever their origin
", insists Unicef.
According to an estimate by the Assembly of Departments of France, around 40,000 unaccompanied foreign minors are currently supported under Social Assistance for Children (ASE).
For the year 2019, more than 16,000 minors were entrusted to the ASE by court decision.