France reaches 6,800 arrests in a month of school protests
Clashes in Paris on Tuesday left 11 police officers in hospital, and student unions are calling a nationwide march for Saturday, Oct. 17.
High school students in France have been protesting since mid-September. They are asking for more teachers, less crowded classrooms and better school buildings. They reached the national day of action on Tuesday, Oct. 13, with more than 6,800 people detained in total, a figure from the Justice Ministry, according to France 24. According to Euronews, 86% of them are minors.
On Tuesday, the Interior Ministry counted about 161,500 demonstrators nationwide, 41,500 of them in Paris. Student unions put the number at around 480,000. Clashes broke out in the capital near Les Invalides. Euronews reported that some protesters threw bottles, firecrackers and stones, and officers used water cannons, tear gas and stun grenades. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 11 police officers were hospitalized.
On Wednesday, Oct. 14, government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon laid out President Emmanuel Macron's position: young people have "legitimate anxieties," but they are being "exploited politically," Euronews reported. Nuñez repeated his firm stance against those who attack police. Amnesty International France asked that every police action be lawful, necessary and proportionate.
France 24 also cites a running toll of more than 200 high school students, 800 police officers and 147 school staff injured. The national police inspectorate, the IGPN, has opened 36 investigations. The government offered to deploy 3,000 substitute teachers in some schools, a measure the students call insufficient.
Student leader Ryad Rani urged people to turn out "in droves" on Saturday, Oct. 17, for "the convergence of struggles." Security forces are preparing for that march, and the government has promised more concrete measures at the end of the month.
