France: Student protests escalate, over 600 detained as violence spreads

French security forces detained more than 600 people on Wednesday as high school protests intensified across the country, with violent clashes and arson attacks leaving dozens of security personnel wounded. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez condemned the “escalation of violence” outside certain schools, reporting that 83 police officers and gendarmes were wounded, along with 32 teachers and pupils. Protests affected 356 schools, according to Nunez, who slammed the “targeting of law enforcement officers, the throwing of projectiles, acts of violence, verbal abuse, attempted arson, and what amounts… to urban violence.”

Teenagers at French lycées have been blockading schools since last week, protesting overcrowded classes, heavy workloads, poor-quality learning materials, and teacher shortages. “There are cockroaches and rats everywhere in the school,” said Fadila, a 17-year-old student, to Reuters. The movement began in the Ile-de-France region around Paris and has spread to other regions, with the worst-affected cities on Wednesday being Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, and Lille. Police again used tear gas in clashes in Lille, according to AFP.

Government response and accusations of incitement

President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged that young people’s concerns are legitimate but stressed that they cannot justify violence or attacks on police officers and teachers. “High schools are meant to be open and to share knowledge. They are not meant to be blockaded or to have trash cans set on fire,” Macron told reporters in Madrid. Both Macron and Nunez accused far-left groups of inciting violence during the protests. Nunez noted that “there were individuals acting as agitators — people who, moreover, moved from one school to another to stir up high school and other students and incite them to commit acts of violence.”

Officials and politicians denounced the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) party and presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon over rhetoric stoking students’ anger. Melenchon had accused the government of a “crackdown” with “obvious racist undertones” and wrote “Hands off our youth!” on social media. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu called the racism accusation “an insult” and accused Melenchon of “racializing a debate about student security and adding to division where a responsible politician should be looking to restore calm.”