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Protests06 October, 20263 min read

French Authorities Detain 5,000 Minors as High School Protests Expand Tuesday

Approximately 400–500 high schools were closed or disrupted nationwide. About 5,000 detainees were arrested nationwide, most of them minors.

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French Authorities Detain 5,000 Minors as High School Protests Expand Tuesday
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Tuesday broader strike

French authorities detained about 5,000 people, 85% of whom were minors, as student protests over working conditions in education swept France and studying stopped inside hundreds of high schools on Monday. The Ministry of Education said the number of schools that witnessed protests or stoppages of classes today fell to 413, compared with 564 last Friday, while it said the decline reflected ongoing dialogue with high school students. Édouard Philippe announced that classes would be suspended entirely or partially today in 400 to 500 of France’s 3,700 high schools, and authorities said the closures included one third of high schools in the Île-de-France region, totaling 468 schools, serving students aged 15 to 17.

“French authorities detained about 5,000 people, 85% of whom were minors.”
Al-ʿIndabinṭun ʿArabiyya

Students gathered in Paris’s 3rd arrondissement with signs reading “No resources, no silence,” and another sign reading “We are skipping our classes to teach you a lesson.” The movement was expected to face a broader mobilization tomorrow, Tuesday, after students had blocked school entrances since late September over teachers’ persistent absences, long school days, unsuitable classroom conditions, and high temperatures inside.

Image from 20 Min
Image: 20 Min
Reporting for this sectionAl-ʿIndabinṭun ʿArabiyya

Injuries and police tactics

In Lens, in the north of the country, a 15-year-old student lost his hand after a sound-bomb thrown by police to disperse the crowd exploded in his hand, according to a police union source. Le Monde reported that education minister Edouard Geffray said, “190 students have been injured since the start of the high school protests,” and it said the most serious injuries appeared to have occurred during interventions by law enforcement. Tybo, 17, told Le Monde, “The riot police chased us to push us back,” then said “it was the second time they threw the grenade.”

The BBC said a 15-year-old boy’s hand was blown off during a confrontation on Monday near a school in Lens, and it said the injury was not life-threatening according to officials. The Education Ministry said 589 schools had been disrupted on Monday, down from 735 on Friday, according to figures reported by Le Monde, while the Education Ministry also said 24 schools had been burned or ransacked since the start of the protests.

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Image: 20 Minutes
Reporting for this sectionLe Monde.frAl Jazeera

Arrests, investigations, and stakes

French Education Minister Edouard Geffray said 24 educational institutions were “set on fire or vandalized” amid the student protests, and French authorities detained about 5,000 people, 85% of them minors. The BBC said the government had announced measures to address students’ demands, but the Union Syndicale Lycéenne (USL) said the government had offered “nothing concrete,” calling the situation “this political deadlock and what we describe as unprecedented repression of the movement.” The BBC also said the unrest saw more than 5,000 people arrested and at least 190 students injured, while it quoted Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu saying, “We will make no concessions to violence.”

The government spokesperson Maud Bregeon defended a fast-tracked bill, telling CNews, “When 14-, 15-, or 16-year-old kids set fires at 9 AM inside bus stations,” questions arise about parental responsibility. The stakes widened as the protests faced a national day of action on Tuesday, with the USL calling for people to join its mobilisation and with the teachers’ union SNES-FSU urging its members to join Tuesday’s protest.

Reporting for this sectionBBC