Paris, Oct 1 (EFE).- Student protests intensified on Thursday in France amid escalating violence that led to 1,949 arrests, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
Over a thousand institutions were affected, including 222 blockades. 284 police officers and gendarmes were injured, as well as 65 school staff members and 170 students, according to the French Ministry of Education.
The government believes the protests are no longer “a legitimate expression of high school students’ demands,” as sources from the Ministry of the Interior told the local press, but rather exhibit “the characteristics of a situation of urban violence.”
The significant escalation, which began a week ago to denounce the shortage of teachers and demand better conditions in schools, led to scenes of urban violence in cities such as Lyon, Lille, and Pantin (on the outskirts of Paris), including the burning of trash containers and clashes with security forces.
In Nantes, a fire broke out at one of the affected high schools.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu convened a crisis cabinet meeting on Thursday and asked his ministers to refrain from traveling in the coming days to manage the situation with local authorities.
In addition, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin convened a videoconference with the country’s 36 public prosecutors to address the blockades and the escalating violence during the protests.
According to leaks to the press, Darmanin called for a “firm criminal response” during that meeting.
On Friday, some 400 schools will remain closed as a precaution, and classes will be held remotely, said the Education Minister Édouard Geffray in an interview on France 2.
Geffray, who will meet on Friday with representatives of student unions, parents, teachers, and other members of the school community, also stated that the “movement has changed” in recent days and has been “taken hostage by ultra-violent fringe groups” seeking to destroy public services.
Accusations Against Mélenchon’s Left
Concerns about the protests turned into a war of political accusations on Thursday when the government accused the leftist bloc La France Insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s party, and affiliated far-left groups of being largely behind the mobilization.
Mélenchon’s party, a candidate for the 2027 presidential election, and the main student union, the Union Syndicale Lycéenne, refuted the claims.
“It makes me laugh a little,” said the group’s national leader, Philémon Jouglet Marcus, in statements to BFMTV, adding that the government infantilizes students when it claims they are not responsible for their own protests.
Mélenchon, who expressed his support for the protesters, drew criticism from both the government and other presidential candidates.
On Thursday, at an event during the festival known as the Festival of Humanity, the leftist leader celebrated the fact that this was a mobilization not seen in four decades and emphasized that it took several days of protests for the government to agree to meet with student representatives.
But he also called for “discipline” because images of burning trash cans “only serve the opponent.”
The student protests, which demand better educational conditions and an end to university enrollment cuts and scholarship reductions, began last week in the Paris region and have since spread throughout the country.
The government announced a consultation platform to discuss these issues, but student unions called for the blockades of educational institutions to continue. EFE
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