What changed

B100277/2026

B100276/2026

European Parliament resolution on the recruitment of children by organised crime

(2026/2725(RSP))

– having regard to the Treaty on European Union, in particular Articles 2, 3 and 6 thereof,

− having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,

– having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in particular Articles 7, 47 and 49 thereof,

− having regard to UN General Assembly Resolution 79/188 of 17 December 2024 on preventing and countering violence against children by organised criminal groups and terrorist groups in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice,

– having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,

− having regard to UN Economic and Social Council Resolution 2024/12 of 23 July 2024 on the treatment of children associated with terrorist groups, including children who are recruited and exploited by those groups,

– having regard to United Nations General Assembly Resolution 79/188 of 17 December 2024 on preventing and countering violence against children by organized criminal groups and terrorist groups in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice,

− having regard to the Commission communication of 1 April 2025 on ProtectEU: a European Internal Security Strategy (COM(2025)0148),

– having regard to United Nations Economic and Social Council Resolution 2024/12 of 23 July 2024 on the treatment of children associated with terrorist groups, including children who are recruited and exploited by those groups,

− having regard to Europol’s 2025 report entitled ‘EU serious and organised crime threat assessment 2025 – The changing DNA of serious and organised crime’,

– having regard to the Commission communication of 1 April 2025 entitled ‘ProtectEU 2025-2030: a European Internal Security Strategy’ (COM(2025)0148),

− having regard to the forthcoming EU action plan on the protection of children against crime,

– having regard to Europol’s EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (EU-SOCTA) 2025,

– having regard to Europol’s intelligence notification of 12 November 2024 entitled ‘The recruitment of young perpetrators for criminal networks’,

– having regard to the forthcoming EU action plan on the protection of children against crime,

– having regard to Sweden’s national strategy against organised crime, ‘Resistance and decisive action’, and to the crime-policy, migration-policy and public security measures made possible in Sweden through the Tidö Agreement,

– having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas organised criminal groups deliberately recruit and exploit children because minors are easier to manipulate, cheaper to use, less likely to understand the structure of the criminal group’s network and, in many Member States, less likely to face sanctions proportionate to the harm caused;

A. whereas organised criminal and terrorist groups increasingly recruit, radicalise and exploit minors, both online and offline, including through social media, gaming platforms, algorithmic grooming and gamification, for the purpose of committing offences including drug trafficking, weapons offences, cybercrime, intimidation, extortion, online scams and violent acts;

B. whereas the use of children for murders, shootings, bombings, extortion, drug trafficking, robberies, money laundering, weapons offences and violence-as-a-service is not merely a social problem, but a direct assault on public order, victims, families, neighbourhoods and the rule of law;

B. whereas minors in the EU, and particularly unaccompanied minors from non-EU countries, are deliberately targeted by criminal organisations because of their vulnerability, susceptibility to manipulation and radicalisation, and, in some cases, the more lenient treatment of minors by criminal justice systems, creating significant social and security challenges for Member States;

C. whereas recruited children may be vulnerable and may themselves be exploited, but a minor who commits serious violent or organised-crime offences is also a perpetrator; whereas the rights of the child must be respected, but victims must not be rendered secondary to offender-centred explanations or impunity;

C. whereas Europol has identified numerous high-risk criminal networks operating across the EU and has warned that minors are recruited through coercion, manipulation and promises of money, gifts, status or protection, including via digital platforms;

D. whereas criminal networks have learned to exploit lenient sanctions on young people, confidentiality and secrecy barriers between authorities and government agencies, fragmented child-protection and justice systems, family loyalty, clan-based structures, residence rights, welfare fraud and online platforms;

D. whereas the recruitment, radicalisation and exploitation of children by organised criminal and terrorist groups undermine the EU’s internal and external security, fuel criminality and perpetuate cycles of violence and insecurity across generations and society as a whole;

E. whereas the growing phenomenon of ‘baby gangs’ is evidence that organised crime groups are recruiting ever younger children;

E. whereas effective action requires the dismantling of the adult criminal networks that recruit minors, proportionate accountability for serious or repeated offending, the strengthening of cooperation between law enforcement authorities, judicial authorities, social services and digital platforms, and the confiscation of criminal proceeds;

F. whereas firearms, explosives, drugs and murder contracts move across borders; whereas organised criminal groups often use children as disposable operational tools while adult organisers, recruiters, handlers and paymasters remain insulated from prosecution;

F. whereas victims of violent offences, drug trafficking, burglaries, intimidation, extortion and urban violence do not experience the harm caused by such offences differently when the perpetrators are minors;

G. whereas the Swedish policy shift that was made possible through the Tidö Agreement has demonstrated the need for a security-first and victim-first approach, including stronger penalties, better tools for law enforcement, better information sharing, special capacity for serious juvenile offenders, confiscation of criminal assets, return measures for foreign offenders and the destruction of the criminal economy;

G. whereas some parents or legal guardians may knowingly tolerate, facilitate, ignore or benefit from criminal activities that are carried out by minors under their responsibility;

H. whereas the first duty of the state is to protect law-abiding citizens; whereas families, households or clan-based networks must not be permitted to function as criminal infrastructure or to retain proceeds, advantages or expected benefits from offences committed by children;

H. whereas age-verification mechanisms should be strengthened in order to prevent fraudulent claims by individuals falsely declaring themselves to be minors where there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate age;

I. whereas responses to child recruitment must distinguish between vulnerable children, who need early intervention, and children who commit serious offences, who must face immediate, secure and proportionate criminal-justice penalties;

1. Strongly condemns the recruitment, radicalisation and exploitation of children by organised criminal and terrorist groups and recognises child recruitment as a serious crime against children and a growing security threat that requires comprehensive responses combining prevention, security, justice and child-protection measures;

J. whereas deportation, return, withdrawal of residence rights and withdrawal of nationality from dual nationals, including offenders who were minors at the time of the offence, should be available tools against people who recruit for, facilitate, finance, launder the proceeds of, conceal, benefit from, intentionally expect to benefit from or commit serious organised-crime offences; whereas, where existing EU, national or international rules prevent such consequences, the Commission and the Member States should propose legislative changes to make them available;

2. Considers that the recruitment or use of minors for criminal or terrorist purposes must be treated as a particularly serious form of organised crime and terrorist activity and as an aggravating circumstance in all relevant criminal proceedings;

K. whereas the law should allow for the removal of a foreign child or dual-national child who commits serious organised-crime offences to the country of nationality or origin together with the parents, guardians or family unit where a court finds that the family environment facilitated, encouraged, protected, financed, concealed, benefited from, stood to benefit from or culpably failed to prevent the criminal conduct; whereas clan-based or family-based networks that function as criminal infrastructure should be removable as a whole, to the extent that everyone concerned is individually linked to the criminal benefit, facilitation or concealment, and subject to a judicial decision;

3. Encourages the Member States to assess whether existing legal frameworks adequately address situations in which adults recruit or use minors to commit offences involving drug trafficking, weapons, violent crime, intimidation, extortion, sexual exploitation, cybercrime or terrorism-related activities;

L. whereas the damage caused by child perpetrators may include death, physical injuries, psychological trauma, threats, destroyed homes and businesses, loss of income, loss of freedom, long-term fear and the degradation of public space;

4. Stresses that minors recruited into organised crime may be victims of exploitation, but that this status must not automatically exclude criminal responsibility where serious, violent or repeated offences have been committed;

1. Strongly condemns the recruitment, grooming, payment, coercion, transport and use of and instruction given to children by organised criminal groups and declares such conduct to be a grave attack on the child, victims of crime and society; calls for an all-out societal response to counter the phenomenon of child grooming and abuse;

5. Welcomes the discussions in some Member States on:

2. Recognises that stable families and educational environments are the first line of prevention against the exploitation of children by organised crime groups; highlights the positive role of sports, extracurricular activities, parishes and religious communities in offering a local, healthy and community-based environment that can help prevent vulnerabilities;

(a) ensuring that juvenile justice systems provide for swift, firm and proportionate sanctions for minors involved in serious or repeated criminal offences;

3. Stresses the importance of addressing root causes of the vulnerabilities that make children susceptible to recruitment into organised crime, which are largely driven by mass and illegal migration;

(b) whether the age thresholds and juvenile justice frameworks of the Member States are still appropriate given the current reality of organised crime, particularly regarding minors aged 16 and above who are involved in serious or repeated offending;

4. Rejects any approach under which serious child-perpetrated gang crime is treated exclusively as victimhood; stresses that vulnerability may be relevant to sentencing and rehabilitation, but must never result in impunity for murder, attempted murder, bombings, firearms offences, rape, aggravated robbery, extortion, serious drug trafficking or other grave offences;

(c) examining, in accordance with national legal systems, whether Member States’ existing responses to serious violent offences, organised criminal activities or repeated offending committed by minors aged 16 and above remain appropriate and effective;

5. Calls on the Commission, in the forthcoming modernisation of EU rules on organised crime, to propose a specific aggravating circumstance for the recruitment, use or exploitation of minors and to ensure that adult organisers, recruiters, handlers, paymasters and criminal-service providers face penalties substantially higher than those for the underlying offence;

(d) assessing the appropriateness of mitigating provisions that are based solely on the perpetrator’s minority in cases involving serious violent crime, organised crime, drug trafficking, weapons offences or repeated offending;

6. Calls for the EU institutions to support Member States in reviewing rules concerning the age of criminal responsibility, youth-sentencing discounts and diversion practices so that organised criminal networks cannot use children as shields against effective criminal justice;

(e) strengthening rules on confiscation and asset recovery where families or third parties have knowingly benefited from the proceeds of crimes committed by minors;

7. Calls for secure juvenile detention, special youth-custodial capacity and, where appropriate, specialised juvenile prisons for minors who commit serious violent or organised-crime offences, with detention decisions being based on the gravity of the offence, public safety, risk of reoffending, intimidation of witnesses and continued gang contact;

(f) ensuring that parents or guardians who fail to comply with court-ordered supervision, reintegration, attendance or monitoring obligations may face financial or administrative consequences, where compatible with national law;

8. Stresses that ordinary open-care placements, voluntary counselling, generic projects conducted by non-governmental organisations or symbolic support plans must not substitute prosecution, secure custody, restitution, confiscation, exclusion orders, monitoring or return measures in cases of serious organised crime;

6. Urges the Member States to prioritise the identification, prosecution and severe punishment of adult recruiters, handlers, family members, gang leaders and intermediaries who use minors as criminal tools;

9. Supports the Member States in imposing strict and enforceable measures on minors involved in serious organised crime, including electronic monitoring, curfews, communication bans, school-area bans, gang-contact bans, weapons-area bans and geographic exclusion zones, with immediate secure detention for serious breaches;

7. Considers that the responsibility of parents or legal guardians must be taken seriously and calls on the Member States to examine appropriate sanctions, including the review of certain social benefits and allowances or refusal or withdrawal of work permits for parents or legal guardians who knowingly tolerate, facilitate or profit from the repeated criminal activity of minors under their responsibility;

10. Calls for mandatory and immediate reporting by schools, social services, migration authorities, youth-care institutions and other public authorities of suspected gang recruitment, weapons possession, drug dealing, extortion, unexplained cash, threats or online grooming involving minors, while ensuring that rules on sharing information do not become a shield for criminal networks;

8. Calls for stronger mechanisms requiring offenders and, where appropriate, civilly responsible adults to compensate victims for damage caused by offences committed by minors; stresses that the victims of crimes committed by minors recruited by organised networks must remain at the centre of the legislative and judicial response through improved access to compensation, protection, information and legal remedies;

11. Supports the Member States in establishing joint police, prosecution, tax, customs, migration, prison and social-authority task forces focused on child recruitment, with lawful access to relevant data, rapid exchange of information and the power to map the adult network around the child perpetrator;

9. Calls on the Member States to strengthen the use of detention, closed educational facilities, electronic monitoring and strict judicial supervision for minors who are involved in serious or repeated offences linked to organised crime;

12. Demands a victim-first approach under which compensation is central to the sentence imposed and to any civil or criminal follow-up proceedings; stresses that victims should not be forced to bear the financial and psychological consequences of crimes committed by minors on behalf of organised networks;

10. Calls on Europol to strengthen its work on the recruitment of minors into organised crime, including by examining the role of digital platforms, gaming environments and cross-border gang structures;

13. Calls for compensation orders arising from serious violent or organised-crime offences to be enforceable into adulthood and, where possible, across borders until victims have been fully compensated, without arbitrary limitation periods, insolvency abuses or identity changes allowing offenders or networks benefiting from crime to escape payment; calls for the EU institutions to support Member States in making child perpetrators, parents or guardians, and any adult relatives, household members, companies, associations or clan-based networks jointly and severally liable where a court finds that they facilitated, encouraged, financed, laundered the benefits of, concealed, benefited from or intentionally expected to benefit from the child’s offence;

11. Calls for stronger action by digital platforms against content, accounts and networks that are used to recruit minors into criminal activity, while respecting fundamental rights and due process; stresses the need to combat the glamorisation online of gang culture, violence, drug trafficking, weapons offences and easy money;

14. Calls for the EU institutions to support Member States in introducing or strengthening steep compensation and restitution orders covering death and bodily injury, psychological harm, destroyed property, loss of income, business damage, relocation costs, security costs, witness-protection costs and long-term trauma;

12. Calls for stronger international cooperation with partner countries to address cross-border recruitment networks and prevent the externalisation of criminal exploitation;

15. Demands the freezing and confiscation of criminal proceeds and unexplained assets linked to child recruitment or child-perpetrated organised crime, including cash, vehicles, phones, jewellery, luxury goods, weapons, homes, businesses, shell companies, welfare-fraud proceeds and assets held by proxies;

13. Rejects any approach that treats all minors who are involved in organised crime solely as passive victims, as this risks weakening deterrence, undermining public trust and encouraging criminal networks to continue exploiting legal loopholes;

16. Calls for confiscated assets to be directed first to victims and, only after victims have been compensated, to law-enforcement, witness-protection and crime-prevention services;

14. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Member States, Europol, Eurojust, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

17. Recalls that Member States may introduce legislative changes allowing for the withdrawal of residence rights, permanent residency, protection statuses and family-reunification rights, and the deportation of foreign offenders, including minors, who are convicted of serious violent or organised-crime offences, of recruiting or using children for organised crime, or of committing crimes for criminal networks, with removal to the country of nationality or origin following the sentence or secure custodial measure;

18. Recalls that Member States may enact legislation that enables them to withdraw citizenship from dual nationals, including people who were minors at the time of the offence, where they are convicted of murder, attempted murder, bombings, firearms offences, aggravated extortion, aggravated robbery, rape, serious drug trafficking, recruitment of children or other grave organised-crime offences, followed by removal to the country of their other nationality or origin and a long-term or permanent entry ban;

19. Calls for family-based return or repatriation orders where a minor foreign national or dual national has committed organised-crime offences and a court finds that the parents, guardians, household members or family unit facilitated, encouraged, protected, financed, concealed, benefited from, stood to benefit from or culpably failed to prevent the crime; stresses that such orders should permit the deportation of the offender together with the parents or family unit to the country of nationality or origin where this is necessary to break the criminal environment and prevent renewed gang involvement;

20. Calls on very large online platforms, search engines, hosting services and relevant messaging-service providers to cooperate swiftly with law-enforcement authorities, preserve evidence, remove illegal recruitment content and provide the data necessary to identify recruiters, handlers, paymasters and cross-border networks, in accordance with EU law and judicial safeguards;

21. Calls on Europol and Eurojust to establish permanent operational cooperation on the recruitment of children by organised crime, with particular focus on cross-border murder contracts, recruitment chains, money flows, weapons trafficking, explosives and criminal-service providers;

22. Calls for EU funding to prioritise police capacity, prosecutors, secure detention, prison intelligence, witness protection, victim compensation, border control, asset recovery, forensic capacity and information sharing, rather than soft projects that cannot demonstrate measurable reductions in recruitment, reoffending or victimisation;

23. Stresses that prevention is legitimate only when it prevents crime; calls for resources to be directed to interventions with measurable results, while insisting that serious offenders and the adult networks around them must face consequences such as criminal justice, confiscation, compensation and, where applicable, removal;

24. Insists that criminal networks using children must be dismantled at every level: child perpetrators must be stopped, adult organisers must be imprisoned, criminal assets must be confiscated, victims must be repaid and foreign offenders who abuse European hospitality must be removed in accordance with the law;

25. Is particularly worried about the endemic phenomenon of grooming, exploitation and trafficking of vulnerable young girls, who once trapped into prostitution by organised crime networks have a tougher time reclaiming their freedom and self-esteem; warns that the banalisation and legalisation of surrogacy could lead to new forms of exploitation and trafficking of young girls by organised crime networks as outlined in the Anti-Trafficking Directive ((EU) 2024/1712);

26. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Member States, Europol, Eurojust, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations.