It is charged with observing and analyzing the phenomenon of cult movements, coordinating the government response, informing the public about the risks arising from sectarian aberrations, and facilitating the implementation of actions to aid the victims.

[2] The French authorities created MIVILUDES as the successor to MILS (Mission interministérielle de lutte contre les sectes; English: "Interministerial Mission in the Fight Against Cults"), which itself functioned from 7 October 1998 as the successor to the Observatoire interministériel sur les sectes established on 9 May 1996.

In February 1998, MILS, headed by Alain Vivien, released its annual report on their monitoring of cults in France.

The operations of MILS, and Vivien's background as the head of an anti-cult organization (he had served as President of the Centre Roger Ikor from 1997 to 1998[3][failed verification]), had occasionally received criticism from several human-rights organizations, such as the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights,[4] as well as the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom,[citation needed] a U.S. government agency.

Announcing the formation of MIVILUDES, the French government acknowledged the criticism that MILS had received from outside France for certain activities that could be considered in violation of religious freedom.