PARIS — A significant new report from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has sent shockwaves through the international religious freedom community, detailing a troubling shift in France’s application of laïcité (secularism). The report, which follows a high-level visit by Personal Representatives of the OSCE Chair-in-Office in June 2025, suggests that the French state’s “universalist” approach is increasingly morphing into an “anti-religious” framework that disproportionately targets minority faiths and fuels social stigmatization.
The findings, authored by Ambassador Evren Dağdelen Akgün, Rabbi Andrew Baker, and Professor Wolfgang Palaver, provide a rare and critical look at how the French Republic’s bedrock principle of secularism is being used not to protect religious freedom, but to “securitize” and control it.
From Protection to Control: The Drift of Laïcité
For over a century, the 1905 Law on the Separation of the Churches and the State has been the gold standard for French secularism. However, the OSCE report warns that this “liberal framework” has undergone a radical transformation. What was once a shield for religious expression is now being described by faith leaders as a sword used to “remove all religious expression from the public square.”
The report highlights the 2021 law on “separatism” as a primary culprit. While framed as a defense of Republican values, the law has introduced stricter oversight of religious associations, including requirements to re-register every five years and sign “secular charters” to access public funds. For many faith-based organizations (FBOs), these measures feel less like neutral administration and more like “collective punishment.”
Miviludes and the Stigmatization of Minority Faiths
One of the most alarming sections of the report focuses on the activities of Miviludes (the Interministerial Mission for Vigilance and Action Against Sectarian Aberrations). While mainstream Christian denominations often view the agency as a necessary tool to combat abuse, the OSCE report reveals a darker side to its operations: the systematic stigmatization of minority religious groups.
The report notes a profound “lack of transparency” in Miviludes’ methodology. Crucially, it points out a double standard where the same activities—such as public canvassing or community outreach—are labeled as “aberrations” when practiced by minority groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses or Scientologists, but accepted when performed by larger, more established faiths.
The Church of Scientology is singled out as a primary target of this state-sponsored stigmatization. The 2025 Miviludes report includes a dedicated page on Scientology that effectively classifies the group as a “cult.” According to the OSCE representatives, this labeling “fuels discrimination and stigmatization against Scientologists” and creates an environment where dialogue with the state is nearly impossible.
The report details how the Councilor for Religious Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has refused to meet with Scientology representatives, citing their “cult” status as justification. This refusal to engage in dialogue is seen by many religious freedom advocates as a direct violation of the state’s duty of neutrality.
The “Securitization” of the Muslim Community
The report also paints a grim picture for France’s 7 million Muslims. Civil society organizations (CSOs) told the OSCE representatives that the principle of laïcité is being increasingly applied through “restrictive legislation” that targets the “visibility of Islam.”
From the 2004 ban on religious symbols in schools to the recent “separatism” law, the report describes a climate where Muslims feel they must “constantly demonstrate their loyalty and innocence.” The “securitization” of Islam has led to the expulsion of imams and the dissolution of organizations under what CSOs call “vague accusations.”
The discrepancy in legal protection is striking. While over a million people in France perceive themselves as victims of discrimination, the report notes that convictions are “extremely rare,” with some years seeing as few as zero to five annually. This “sense of impunity” for anti-Muslim acts has led some French Muslims to consider emigration, mirroring the anxieties of the Jewish community.
A Community Under Siege: The Jewish Experience
The Jewish community, the largest in Europe, is also facing a crisis of confidence. The report describes an “atmosphere of antisemitism” on university campuses and a rise in bullying in secondary schools. The executive director of CRIF (the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France) noted that almost every Jewish family in the country has considered leaving.
The report highlights a unique challenge for the Jewish community: the financial burden of security. Unlike other religious groups, the Jewish community must largely fund its own protection through the SPCJ, a cost that community leaders say is a “significant and ongoing financial burden.”
The Sikh and Roma Communities: Invisible Victims
The “blindness” of the French state to religious and ethnic identity—a core tenet of its universalist model—is also shown to have devastating consequences for smaller minorities.
The Sikh community reported that students are pressured to cut their hair, and adults are forced to remove their turbans for official ID photos—a requirement that violates the principle of equal treatment seen in other EU nations like Italy and Belgium. Meanwhile, the Roma and Sinti communities face “institutionalized segregation,” with many denied basic rights like healthcare and education because they lack a fixed address—a byproduct of their mobile way of life that the state effectively criminalizes.
A Call for Dialogue and Reform
The OSCE report is more than just a list of grievances; it is a call for the French state to return to the “true spirit” of laïcité. The representatives emphasize the need for “independent and impartial handling” of discrimination cases and a more transparent methodology for agencies like Miviludes.
For faith-based organizations worldwide, the report serves as a warning of how secularism, when divorced from a commitment to pluralism, can become a tool of state overreach. As France approaches its 2027 elections, the international community will be watching closely to see if the Republic can bridge the deepening divide between its secular ideals and the lived realities of its religious citizens.
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