France protests escalate as university students join high school movement, around 60 faculties occupied

The student movement is increasingly putting pressure on the government, with university students now joining the protests. Police tactics are drawing criticism.

By Rudolf Balmer, Paris

Hundreds of thousands of young people demonstrated across France on Tuesday. In the capital alone, organizers reported around 100,000 participants, while the Interior Ministry put the figure at 56,000 in Paris. Mostly young people took part in a march from Place de la République to Place de la Nation on the right bank of the Seine. Their signs featured creative wordplay and cheeky slogans, giving vent to their anger at the authorities.

As in most cities, the rally in Paris began peacefully. However, tensions soon escalated with projectiles thrown at security forces, and the streets became shrouded in thick tear gas. Despite this, the mobilization of secondary school students has been a clear success.

The students aim to increase pressure on the government. In recent days, they had blocked hundreds of high schools (lycées). The government, for its part, is struggling to find a way out of the crisis and the confrontation with the youth.

The students are now being supported by public sector trade unions and university students, who occupied around 60 faculties on Tuesday in a show of solidarity.

Parents Join Demonstrations to Protect Their Children

In most cities, many parents marched alongside the young protesters, identifiable by white armbands and signs with their own slogans. They said they were there to protect their children from violent clashes, having been shocked by videos of aggressive police operations.

One teenager reportedly lost an eye, and another had a hand mutilated by the explosion of a police grenade. Footage aired on all TV channels also raised suspicions of sexual violence: in Metz, a plainclothes police officer was seen touching a young woman's breast during an arrest. In the Paris suburb of Noisy-le-Sec, according to television reports, a 14-year-old who had allegedly thrown a firecracker at police was so heavily sprayed with tear gas that he was hospitalized with convulsions.

During question time in the National Assembly, Mathilde Panot, parliamentary leader of the party La France Insoumise (LFI), told Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu that he was "a disgrace to the nation." She accused him of giving the orders for these interventions and therefore being responsible for the police tactics. Lecornu responded that it was LFI that wanted to "sow chaos."

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the LFI presidential candidate criticized by Lecornu as an instigator, appeared at the start of the Paris rally accompanied by several party colleagues. He said he wanted to "encourage" the young demonstrators while also urging them to remain non-violent.

Students and Pupils Present List of Demands

Together with student organizations, the school protest movement has presented the government with a list of demands. It contains ten urgent measures to improve study conditions and educational opportunities. Sabrina Kharbach, spokesperson for the Union Étudiante, presented the government with a bill totaling 10 billion euros. The demands are intended as a basis for negotiation.

The government has not yet responded to these demands. Education Minister Edouard Geffray has only promised to first address guaranteed teacher substitution in cases of absence—one of the students' demands.

The French government appears determined not to show any weakness toward the students and to act decisively against violence by rioters. "Our priority is to restore order," government spokesperson Maud Bregeon told France 2 on Tuesday morning.

She stressed the need to "clearly distinguish between the high school students who have something to say to us and violent individuals." In the National Assembly, Prime Minister Lecornu and Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, who has been criticized over police operations, made it clear that the government continues to rely on repressive policing.

Students and university students have already announced the next day of action with rallies for Thursday.