IRCT REGIONAL REPORT 2016 Refugees living under a bridge in the 19th Arrondissement of Paris © Gail Palethorpe In Parcours d’Exil’s experience, high quality MLRs carry significant weight in refugee status determinations and can thus help victims get a fair determination. Unfortunately, this means that victims who do not manage to access the very limited supply of quality MLRs risk having a negative impact on their refugee status determination.8 The French authorities have been trying to improve the system over the last two or three years and have expressed a willingness to engage in dialogue with NGOs like Parcours d’Exil. There is now greater space for Parcours d’Exil to intervene in individual cases and the authorities have been largely receptive to this. While French authorities do not make it a requirement for everyone working with torture victims to receive special training, OFPRA caseworkers are now meant to receive specific training to deal with those with psycho-traumatic issues. OFPRA have also established working groups on vulnerable asylum seekers (including unaccompanied minors and torture victims) and a working group on MLRs. The aim of these groups is to provide manuals of best practices for OFPRA employees and although they are internal working groups, they do engage with external specialists such as NGOs. In May 2016, the UN Committee against Torture recommended that the French State put in place a clear policy for rehabilitation of torture victims, identifies torture victims among asylum seekers and ensures that there are sufficient human and financial resources available to offer all victims rehabilitation support. This provides a blueprint for the French State to guarantee that all torture victims who arrive in France receive adequate support. page 20