Macron suggests renting overseas prison cells to tackle jail overflow

France is grappling with an acute prison overcrowding crisis, prompting the government to consider a radical solution: renting prison cells in foreign countries to house its inmates.

President Emmanuel Macron confirmed in an interview with TF1 last week that his administration is exploring the option of leasing prison space abroad, Caliber.Az reports, citing Euronews.

French correctional facilities are currently overwhelmed, with nearly 83,000 inmates housed in a system designed for only 62,000. According to a report published last year by the Council of Europe, France ranks third in Europe for prison overcrowding, trailing only Cyprus and Romania.

The idea of outsourcing incarceration is not entirely new. Between 2010 and 2016, Belgium rented 680 prison places in the Dutch city of Tilburg. In 2021, Denmark signed a €210 million agreement with Kosovo to lease 300 prison cells for a ten-year period. Estonia has also expressed interest in renting out unused prison capacity, estimating potential annual earnings of €30 million.

However, the concept is fraught with logistical, legal, and ethical challenges, as demonstrated by the Belgium-Netherlands arrangement.

Dominique Simonnot, France’s prison watchdog, explained that Dutch prison staff had to operate under Belgian laws, which required special training to understand the Belgian system. Moreover, visits by family members were severely hampered by visa requirements and travel distance. “In the end, Belgium abandoned the project, and I see no reason to repeat the experiment,” Simonnot told Euronews.

Cost is another significant concern. Denmark pays roughly €200 per day per inmate in its Kosovo deal. In France, the cost of incarceration ranges between €100 and €250 per day, depending on the facility. Belgium’s partnership with the Netherlands costs around €40 million annually, including staffing expenses.

Annabelle Bouche, deputy secretary-general of the prison staff union SNEPAP-FSU and an experienced probation officer, also called the idea unrealistic. “There are very concrete issues that make this concept very, very, very difficult to implement. First, from a financial perspective, renting space abroad incurs costs. Given the current state of France’s public finances, we’re cutting costs everywhere. I don't see how sending prisoners abroad would be economical,” she told Euronews.

From a probation standpoint, Bouche warned that sending inmates far from their families could negatively impact rehabilitation. “Deporting convicted individuals to a foreign facility would distance them from their families, from employment structures, and from the support services they need to reintegrate into society,” she explained.

Earlier this year, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin proposed constructing modular prisons for those serving short sentences. President Macron later confirmed that the plan would create 5,000 new prison spaces within the next two years.