The gang rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl sparked nationwide outrage in France with President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday condemning the “scourge” of anti-Semitism after two 13-year-old boys were charged.
International News
French Boys Charged With Rape Of 12-Year-Old Jewish Girl
Amid recriminations between rival political parties campaigning for a national election later this month, hundreds took part in demonstrations against anti-Semitism in Paris and Lyon.
The girl told police she was approached by three boys aged between 12 and 13 whilst in a park near her home in the northwestern Paris suburb of Courbevoie on Saturday evening, police sources said.
She was dragged into a shed where the suspects beat her and “forced” her to have sex “while uttering death threats and anti-Semitic remarks”, one police source told AFP.
The girl said she had been called a “dirty Jew”, another police source said.
One boy asked her questions about “her Jewish religion” and Israel, the source added, citing the child’s statement to investigators.
The rape was filmed by one boy and another threatened to kill the girl if she told authorities about her ordeal, police sources said.
Minors charged
A friend who was with her in the park identified two of the attackers and three boys were arrested on Monday. Two of them, both aged 13, were charged on Tuesday with gang rape, anti-Semitic insults and violence, and issuing death threats. They have been taken into custody.
The third boy, 12, was charged with anti-Semitic insults and violence and issuing death threats, but not with rape. He was allowed to return home.
The prosecution service said in a statement that the accused boys had “expressed regret towards the victim without discussing their implication in the facts” of the case.
France has the largest Jewish community of any country outside Israel and the United States as well as Europe’s largest Muslim community. There has been a surge in anti-Semitic acts since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel set off the Gaza war.
“Raped at 12 because she was Jewish”, said one banner at a demonstration in central Paris where Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti was among well-known figures to take part.
Macron told a cabinet meeting of government ministers that the “scourge of anti-Semitism” was threatening French schools, a source close to the president said.
The source said the president called for “dialogue” about racism and hatred of Jews in schools to prevent “hate speech with serious consequences” from “infiltrating” classrooms.
Far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen, whose National Rally party is tipped to make major gains in the election, slammed the “extreme left” for “stigmatising Jewish people” since the Israel-Hamas war started.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, head of the hard left France Unbowed (LFI) party, who has been accused of minimising the importance of anti-Jewish attacks, condemned “anti-Semitic racism”.
The head of France’s Jewish Central Consistory, Elie Korchia, condemned what he called “a sordid and unworthy sexual crime” while the country’s chief rabbi Haim Korsia said he was “horrified” and that “no one should be excused in the face of this unprecedented wave of anti-Semitism”.
Courbevoie’s centre-right mayor Jacques Kossowski condemned “an abject act” and called for the perpetrators to be met with the full force of the law “whatever their age”.
Anti-Semitic acts in France increased threefold in the first months of 2024 compared to the same period a year ago, official figures show.
Of the 1,676 anti-Semitic acts recorded in 2023, 12.7 percent took place in schools.
A Finnish appeal court has reduced the prison sentence of Biafran separatist leader, Simon Ekpa, from six to four years.
Finnish newspaper Yle disclosed this in a report on Thursday.
However, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Päijät-Häme District Court, which found Ekpa guilty of terrorism-related charges last year.
The charges were related to Ekpa’s alleged activities aimed at re-establishing an independent state of Biafra in southeastern Nigeria.
Ekpa subsequently appealed the ruling, seeking to have his conviction and sentence overturned.
In a ruling that offered some relief to Ekpa, the Court of Appeal found him guilty of the same offences but reduced his prison term after considering the circumstances surrounding his actions. The court noted that the situation in the Biafran region closely resembled, but did not meet the definition of, a civil war.
Ekpa had told the court that his involvement was not motivated by terrorist intent, citing the political turmoil in the Biafran region.
The prosecutor in the case had also appealed the district court’s decision, arguing that the prison sentence did not reflect the seriousness of Ekpa’s offences.
The Federal Government has called for stronger international responsibility sharing and innovative arrangement to address the growing humanitarian needs of over 142,000 refugees and asylum seekers from 42 countries.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard Doro, made the call while delivering Nigeria’s national statement at the 77th Session of the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), currently holding at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
In a statement by his Senior Technical Adviser on Information Systems and Data Analysis, Dr. Abimbola Fasanu, the Minister disclosed that as of September 2026, Nigeria had received over 24,000 returnees and was managing a population of more than 6.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Doro reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to international refugee protection obligations, noting that the country continues to maintain an asylum system under the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) Act of 2022.
He stated that no case of refoulement had been recorded in Nigeria in 2026, reaffirming the country’s commitment to protecting people fleeing persecution from being returned to situations where their lives or freedom could be threatened.
Highlighting progress on durable solutions, the Minister disclosed that over 7,000 Nigerian refugees had voluntarily returned from neighbouring countries this year under Tripartite Agreements, while another 14,000 in Cameroon had registered their intention to return. An agreement covering the return of 2,000 Nigerians from Niger is also being finalised.
He acknowledged the continued hospitality of Cameroon, Chad and Niger in providing refuge to displaced Nigerians.
According to the Minister, improved security conditions in parts of the country are creating opportunities for voluntary return, while Resettlement Cities established in seven locations are supporting the phased closure of displacement camps in conditions of safety and dignity.
Beyond return and resettlement, Dr. Doro outlined measures aimed at promoting self-reliance and reducing prolonged dependence on humanitarian assistance.
He explained that refugees in five states are benefiting from access to land, agricultural inputs and skills training, while the newly established Public-Private Partnership Department of the NCFRMI is supporting efforts to expand livelihood opportunities.
The Minister also cited the successful local integration of former Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees, some of whom have established businesses and become economically active members of their host communities.
On access to essential services, he disclosed that displaced persons and host communities are being enrolled in Nigeria’s national identity system to facilitate access to banking, education and social services.
He added that refugees are being incorporated into state action plans and social registers, while ten mobile documentation buses are expected to extend identity services to underserved and remote communities.
Doro further highlighted the development of a Digital Gateway in collaboration with UNHCR to provide refugees with secure online access to information.
Addressing the growing pressure on humanitarian financing, the Minister urged the international community to strengthen support for refugee-hosting countries through expanded resettlement opportunities, complementary pathways and greater responsibility-sharing.
He specifically called on UNHCR to explore partnerships with regional and subregional financial institutions, including the African Development Bank and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development, as a means of mobilising additional resources for refugee protection and durable solutions.
The Minister emphasised that the responsibility for addressing displacement could not rest on host countries alone, particularly at a time of increasing humanitarian needs and declining international resources.
The United States has listed Nigeria among 14 countries identified for recruiting or using child soldiers, warning that the designation could trigger restrictions on certain forms of military assistance.
The listing is contained in the 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which covers the period from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026.
According to the report, restrictions under the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) could affect international military education and training, foreign military financing, excess defence articles, peacekeeping operations and licences for direct commercial sales of military equipment, unless a presidential waiver is granted.
Nigeria was listed alongside Afghanistan, Burma, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Iran, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela and Yemen.
The report also retained Nigeria on Tier 2 for human trafficking, a category for countries whose governments do not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking but are making significant efforts to comply.
However, the US raised concerns about corruption and alleged official complicity in human trafficking crimes.
“The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees allegedly complicit in trafficking crimes or provide details or other actions taken against complicit officials from previous years,” the report stated.
The report also faulted Nigeria’s efforts to protect trafficking victims, stating that 675 victims received assistance in 2025, compared with 2,058 in the previous year.
It said support services, particularly for male victims, remained limited, with only one dedicated non-governmental organisation shelter for adult male victims operating during the reporting period.
The report further stated that shelters operated by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) restricted residents’ freedom of movement, while access to certain protection services depended on victims cooperating with law enforcement proceedings.
Despite these concerns, the report acknowledged increased government efforts in investigating, prosecuting and securing convictions in human trafficking cases compared with the previous reporting period.
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