20
May
2026
Watch
Recruitment of children by organised crime (debate)
Madam President, Europe is facing a terrifying new reality: organised criminal gangs are no longer recruiting only adults, they are recruiting children. Teenagers are being transformed into drug couriers, hitmen and instruments of terror in our own cities. In Sweden, for example, we have seen horrifying cases where boys as young as 13 or 14 were recruited by migrant gang networks to carry out shootings and bomb attacks linked to drug wars. Children are exploited because criminal bosses know that minors often receive lighter sentences, and their suburbs have become breeding grounds for parallel criminal structures. In France, a second example, criminal organisations connected to narcotics trafficking have similarly used minors for violence, intimidation and street‑level drug distribution, particularly in areas overwhelmed by failed integration and uncontrolled migration. We must finally speak honestly: this crisis did not emerge in a vacuum. Mass migration, failed integration policies and the creation of isolated communities have enabled organised crime to flourish across Europe. Europe cannot...