Islamist radicals are infiltrating France’s child protection homes, targeting vulnerable minors for grooming, prostitution, drug trafficking, and terrorism, according to a damning report by legal experts Manon Sieraczek and Thierry Froment.
The report reveals that poorly funded, barely regulated state shelters have become hunting grounds for Islamist networks, including those linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. These facilities are failing to protect children, many of whom are drawn in by radical preachers, online propaganda, or Islamic associations allowed free access under the guise of charity.
Children—especially girls—are recruited into prostitution with little supervision over their whereabouts or phone use. Boys often end up in drug gangs or terrorist groups. Lawyer Michel Amas estimates 20,000 minors are now involved in prostitution, calling it a “pandemic that no one is talking about.”
The problem is especially grave among refugee children, particularly Syrians brought in by the French state. With many speaking only Arabic and lacking interpreters, authorities can’t properly assess whether they’re being groomed.