How caring for torture victims works in France

Every year, out of the roughly 35,000 people who come to France seeking asylum, we estimate that between 20 and 30 percent of them have been victims of torture or other serious human rights violations.

Today, France still has not enforced the European-wide directive that mandates all member States to officially recognize vulnerable persons in order to provide them with treatment and care that is tailored to their situation. According to this directive, all personnel coming into contact with these vulnerable persons must be trained to handle their specific issues.

Asylum seekers represent 20 % of those arriving in France every year. The rest include students, those coming to France as part of family reunification (more than 54 % of immigrants in 2006). There are roughly 10,000 workers, or economic immigrants, who obtain an entry card per year (same as the number of refugees).

The Ministry of Health estimated in 2005 that around 20 % of refugees, or 150,000 people, had been victims of torture. (Source)

Non-profit organisations are the only structures that provide proper care of victims of torture or other serious human rights violations:

• Parcours d’Exil : 863 patients en 2008 dont 108 mineurs
• Primo Levi : 284 patients in 2007 including 35 unaccompanied minors
• Mana (Bordeaux) : 50 patients in 2006
• Osiris (Marseille) : 100 patients in 2006
• MSF (Paris) : 130 patients per year
• The Essor Centre (Forum for Refugees) : 152 patients in 2008

In regards to the 150,000 people deemed in need of this care, these numbers barely represent more than 1 percent. For example, in 2005, the Minister of Health donated 160,000 Euros to help fund non-profits, which ended up translating to a donation of little more than 1 Euro per patient! The current situation hardly represents improvement and we realize just how far away our political leaders are from honouring torture victims’ rights to proper care as mandated by the European directive on reception conditions.

Important : In 2007, the COMEDE (Medical Comittee for Exiled Persons) received 4,860 patients, including 109 minors of which 59 were unaccompanied; care was provided to these patients whether they were torture victims or not.
1 325 patients were victims of psychological trauma in 2007. The COMEDE estimates that a quarter of the patients they see are victims of torture (as defined by the Geneva convention) and more than half were subjected to violence in their respective home countries.
Torture is most frequently reported in Sri Lanka, Conakry Guinea, Sudan, Mauritania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo, and Turkey ( Source : COMEDE Report 2007)