📷 Photo: Louis Toussaint/Seychelles News Agency via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
The Seychelles National Assembly has unanimously approved a motion calling on the government to identify every year the young people leaving residential care without accommodation and to place them in transitional housing until a permanent home is secured.
The motion, presented by the elected member for Bel Air, Hon. Trevor Louise, was carried with 29 votes after a debate in which 16 members participated. It directs the Ministry of Social Affairs, Family and Consumer Affairs to carry out an annual exercise to determine the number of young people reaching 18 who must leave children’s homes or the President’s Village without an alternative.
Louise shared that as of July 2026, 55 children live in residential care in Seychelles, split across Foyer de Nazareth, with 10 boys, Foyer de la Providence, with 13 children, the Foyer de la Solitude, with 3 girls, and the President’s Village, with 29 children. Reasons for placement include neglect, parental imprisonment, sexual exploitation and a lack of caregivers.
“The future of a young person should not be determined or limited because they were raised in an orphanage,” Louise told the Assembly.
During the debate, members described the challenges faced by young people raised in residential care. Some grow up without parents, while others have parents who are unable to care for them. Upon turning 18, several leave care institutions with no home, no family support, and are forced to ask themselves where they will sleep that night. Many also face challenges including various forms of abuse.
Louise argued that transitional housing would respect the constitutional rights of these young people while offering stability and the opportunity to plan a future. He suggested that such housing could be managed under existing regulations, possibly by the Property Management Corporation, with at least two units per region allocated annually for young people leaving care. In years when there are no eligible candidates, the units could be reallocated through existing mechanisms.
The motion also proposes that young people leaving care should not feel pressured into relationships simply to secure accommodation. Instead, they should be supported in pursuing further studies or employment, with the government including them in employment schemes to help them build toward future housing.
Transitional housing residents should be registered under all applicable government schemes, the motion says, so they can begin contributing to their own housing. Parents of children in care, the motion adds, should contribute even a small amount, around R100 a month, towards their children’s future, with government taking responsibility where both parents are deceased. A special social security scheme for the residents was also floated.
Hon. Louise emphasised that the intention was not to remove responsibility from families, but to reduce the social problems arising from neglect. He urged the departments of social services and family affairs to adopt a more proactive approach, aligned with international conventions Seychelles has ratified, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
He also proposed compulsory courses on family life, child safety and care for those accessing transitional housing, and the establishment of a National Assembly committee on social cohesion, family and equality. He called on the Executive to review existing policies and the Children’s Act to reflect present day concerns, and on training and employment placements to be built into the support offered before young people leave care.
The motion was passed without opposition.
Sources cited: 1. OHCHR, “Convention on the Rights of the Child”,
