French authorities are seeking radical options to tackle the severe overcrowding of national prisons, renting cells from other European countries.
However, the idea came to mind by French President Emmanuel Macron. Recent broadcast interviews National broadcaster TF1 has raised some interest and has attracted criticism from some of the prison system, which sees logistical, legal and ethical challenges.
“The Netherlands rented prison beds to Belgium along with their own staff, but under Belgian law, Dutch staff had to be trained to understand how things work in Belgian prisons,” said Dominique Simmono, the French controller general, about the location of deprivation of freedom, an independent public institution that controls the country’s prisons.
“And second, family visits were very complicated due to visa requirements and distance,” Simonot added.
“In the end, Belgium abandoned the project, so I don’t think there’s a reason to repeat the experiment.”
With more than 82,900 prisoners and just 62,000 prison rooms, France is rapidly running out of space.
He is also the third performer in Europe with the overcrowded prisons behind Cyprus and Romania. Research by the Council of Europe It was released last year.
Even Annabelle Boucher, deputy executive director of the SNEPAP-FSU Prison Staff Union and longtime probation officer, does not consider the idea to be realistic.
“In my opinion there are some very specific elements that make implementing such an idea very, very, very difficult,” Bouchet told Euronows.
“First of all, from a budget perspective, going abroad to rent a facility is costly, and today France’s financial position is like a need to make budget cuts everywhere.
As a probation officer, Boucher also mentioned the potential tensions over reintegration, warning that placing prisoners from family and support networks could impact long-term rehabilitation.
“Deporting people sentenced to prison and imprisoned means they are far from their families, but that means they are far from the employment areas and actors that allow them to reintegrate into society,” she explained.
Earlier this year, French Minister of Justice Gerald Dalman proposed building a modular prison unit to house prisoners who provide shorter sentences.
Macron also shows interest in streamlining the construction of 5,000 new locations using faster and lighter constructions.
However, those working in the system say that sending prisoners abroad or building more units will not correct prison overcrowding.
Bouchet believes alternative sentences and improved mental health and addiction counseling will help reduce the prison population.
“Today, not all people who committed crimes due to addiction or mental health issues should be in prison. Since prisons are not the answer to everything, we need to think of alternative solutions,” she said.
Which European countries rented foreign prisons?
France is not the first country to explore this option. Between 2010 and 2016, Belgium rented 680 prisons in the town of Tilburg, the Dutch town of Tilburg.
In 2021, Denmark signed 210 million euros for 10 years Lease agreement 300 cells in Kosovo.
And Estonia has Expressed interest By lending free prison space to other countries, it estimates potential annual revenue of 30 million euros.
The Denmark-Kosovan trades reach around 200 euros per day per inmate, but the daily costs per French prisoner currently range from 100 to 250 euros, depending on the type of facility.
Belgium’s previous partnership with the Netherlands was part of staffing costs, reaching 40 million euros per year.
