French prisons hit record overcrowding as hundreds sleep on floors

France's prison system recorded a new high of 88,829 inmates on 1 June, a 5.2 % increase year‑on‑year of about 4,400 people. Operational places rose only marginally to 63,237, creating an overall occupancy rate of 140.5 % and 173.2 % in short‑term and pre‑trial facilities. The surge forced 7,608 detainees – up 32.1 % from the previous year – to sleep on mattresses on the floor or in bunks.

Officials warned the situation threatens human dignity. The general secretary of the national prison directors’ union, Flavie Raoult, described daily consequences as “extremely problematic”. The control‑general of prisons, Dominique Simonnot, called the crisis a “prison catastrophe”, noting severe impacts on access to education, libraries, sport, medical care and a rise in psychiatric disorders. Violence has risen, with reports of assaults and rapes in overcrowded cells, such as at the Toulouse‑Seysses centre. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has proposed building 3,000 modular prison places, but experts argue that expanding capacity merely fuels further incarceration. Earlier, the Council of Europe warned French prisons could become “human warehouses”.