Overview
- The Cour des comptes published a report on Thursday, June 11, 2026, finding that sending asylum seekers from Île-de-France to regional reception centres is an effective way to ease local pressure but is not used enough.
- The audit notes the scheme routed nearly 18,000 people in 2024, close to a 22,000 target, at an estimated cost of €50 million compared with €962 million spent overall on asylum housing.
- Roughly 40% of relocation offers are refused by asylum seekers, a pattern the report links to the 2018 rule that allows placements to be proposed without naming the destination and to loss of some benefits after refusal.
- Implementation varies sharply by region: Pays de la Loire hosted 504 people versus a 2,445 target, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes took 1,988 versus 3,681, Nouvelle-Aquitaine took 2,684 versus 5,045, and Centre-Val-de-Loire exceeded its target with 1,754 versus 1,229 expected.
- The report traces the problem back to the 2015 migration surge that left Île-de-France holding 46% of asylum claims while its initial reception centres (CAES) made up only 19% of national capacity, increasing street homelessness and informal camps and motivating calls to optimise the relocation mechanism.