France, July 30 -- France is failing to protect thousands of children from criminal exploitation, treating them as delinquents rather than victims, the French branch of the UN children's agency (Unicef) said in a report published Wednesday.

The agency has called for urgent reform to end what it described as a "double punishment" of vulnerable minors caught up in criminal networks. The report, published on Wednesday to mark World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, highlighted the systematic failure to recognise children forced into crime as victims rather than perpetrators.

"Children who are victims of criminal exploitation are insufficiently recognised and protected as victims," Unicef France stated. "They are too often prosecuted and ...