The opening, Tuesday January 9, in Paris, of a trial for aggravated human trafficking. Six Algerian nationals are accused of drugging and pushing Moroccan minors to rob tourists at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Several dozen young people would have fallen into their net, but only 17 victims were clearly identified, 12 brought civil action, after long work by associations in the field, to put these children at ease. Because the police and judicial institutions until then only considered them as delinquents.
In 2021, the Eiffel Tower district is the scene of a worrying phenomenon. Tourists are the target of snatch thieves, particularly young people. Extract from a television news: “ On the Place du Trocadéro, when the sun sets, many people feel more and more insecure, because the groups of young people wandering around the Eiffel Tower are more and more numerous and, for the most part, they are unaccompanied foreign minors. »
At the time, these minors, most of them of Moroccan origin, were presented as unmanageable little thugs, particularly because of their use of narcotics. The associations, which spotted them in 2016, first in the north of Paris, have a completely different analysis of the situation. Guillaume Lardanchet is the director of the NGO Hors la rue: “ The physical and psychological state of young people, caused by consumption and life on the street, the criminal activities in which they engaged and also the absence of requests for protection, when we put these indicators end to end, for us, this are signs that these young people are engaged in exploitation. »
Victims of human trafficking
It is thanks to the intervention of associations like Hors la rue that some young people agree to denounce their exploiters. The police investigation thus takes another turn. Surveillance of the premises makes it possible to identify a strange ballet. Algerians designate the little Moroccans as their prey and wait for the loot. For the first time, these children – the youngest is 7 years old – go from the status of delinquent to that of victim. Me Delanoë-Daoud defends one of them. We will call him Karim. The lawyer meets him in the spring of 2022 in a home: “ At first I was shocked that he was so small. In fact, he was actually 13, but he was so malnourished that he looked more like 9 or 10. »
Like most of the little Moroccans from Trocadéro, Karim went through Spain before reaching France. Attracted by videos of compatriots brandishing wads of cash in front of the Eiffel Tower. Once there, he falls into the net of adults, who offer him accommodation, a job and drugs: “ We tell them : “Well, take this, first, you’ll sleep better.”After : “It gives you energy”. So there is a bit of a playful side to it. And then, friends take it too. And then the adults give it first. And then, eventually, it pays off. So here we are again in the spiral of : “You need to bring me something so I can give you this product back.” Lyrica and Ritrovil. You get hooked very quickly, in fact. »
Threats, beatings, violence are the daily lot of these young Moroccans. Of the twelve minors recognized as victims, only two or three should be present at the trial. The others disappeared into thin air, often for fear of reprisals. Karim has not given any news for several months; his lawyer will lend him her voice.
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