France, more student protests: another 500 arrested. Tensions and tear gas in Paris

Student protests continue in France. Today, October 8, "act IV" of the nationally coordinated mobilizations took place: 71,500 people took to the streets, of which 24,500 in Paris alone. Many cities were involved, not without new tensions and charges on protesters with tear gas, from the capital to Nantes and Strasbourg. Today alone there were 504 arrested and 48 injured, including policemen and gendarmes. Meanwhile, lessons are "totally or partially suspended" in 375 schools out of 3,700 in the country, according to provisional estimates from the Ministry of Education. As promised last week, the Minister of National Education, Édouard Geffray, summoned the three high school student associations to the ministry. However, the Union étudiante, one of the main French student organizations, has already called a new demonstration for October 13th from the Parisian meeting place of Place de la Bastille. "Until 10 billion euros are put on the table we will not stop taking to the streets," reiterated spokeswoman Sabrine Kharbach.

Protests in Paris: Place de la Bastille closed, "demonstration saves" at Place de la Nation

In Paris, all access to the Place de la Bastille was closed, where thousands of demonstrators were temporarily blocked by barriers by CRS officers in riot gear. The Union Etudiante then launched a call to move to the Place de la Nation "for a giant wild demonstration". In the afternoon, at the Bastille, the police forces deployed on site were targeted by "throwing cobblestones and firecrackers", with no injuries. Then, about twenty black blocs began to throw street furniture. The officers then responded with water cannons and tear gas.

Unicef recalls France: "Enough violence, protect minors"

Unicef appeals to France for "a de-escalation of violence" and "the protection of minors" in the context of student mobilisations, inviting the authorities across the Alps to respect the right of young people to "demonstrate peacefully". Operations to protect public order, warns Unicef, must "fully" take into account their age, "not consider the crowd as a homogeneous group and distinguish people who commit violence from those who demonstrate peacefully". The recall comes because, since the beginning of the protests, several minors have been seriously injured following interventions by the police. The General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) was tasked with carrying out eighteen internal investigations to shed full light on the facts.

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France, Lecornu: "No order to the police to confront the students"

Lecornu: "No orders to the police to clash with young people"

Yesterday the French Prime Minister, Sebastien Lecornu, explained that "the anger of the young people" involved in the student demonstrations "does not arise out of nowhere". "No one can remain indifferent to the anxieties they express", he added, assuring that the police "have no instructions to clash with the students". And an investigation was opened after the spread on social media of a video showing a Police Nationale off-road vehicle hurtling at high speed towards protesters in Dunkirk. Not only that. Lecornu also announced that "the government's first decisions will be presented at the end of October", but that "the dialogue spaces started" in schools will continue "in every high school, until next week".

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