French police have imposed overnight curfews in two areas of Paris following a weekend of rioting described as the worst in years, with at least 2,400 people arrested and an estimated 3,000 businesses damaged or looted across the country.
The curfew, announced by the Paris police, aims to protect “people and property from the violence and looting”. It prohibits anyone from entering or remaining on the Place de la Republique, where rioting took place on Saturday, and the shopping neighbourhood of Les Halles, which has been subject to looting.
Curfew details and restrictions
The curfew will be in effect from 11pm tonight until 6am on Tuesday, while gatherings and demonstrations are banned from 8pm, the Paris police said. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu had called for “very limited” and “localised” curfews.
In northern France, local authorities imposed a curfew for children and teenagers under age 18 in several cities, including Lille, starting from Monday and for the next two days from 8pm to 6am. Nice, on the French Riviera, also imposed an overnight curfew for minors from 9pm.
Government response and political fallout
Mr Lecornu defended police handling of the unrest, saying that “despite scenes of severe violence and extensive property damage, no-one was killed, and that is a miracle”. He said details of the curfews would be announced later on Monday after consultations with mayors.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez offered his resignation, but French President Emmanuel Macron asked him to stay to respond to police needs in an emergency situation. Macron refused Nunez’s resignation “given the need for continued command of law enforcement in the current context”, according to a statement from the French leader’s office.
Violence and looting across cities
On Sunday evening, groups of people set fires to bins, bicycles and other objects in the streets and looted businesses in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other cities, a day after major violence erupted during nationwide protests against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools.
Flames engulfed the 19th-century City Hall in Limoges, central France, causing its roof to collapse and nearly destroying the building. In Marseille, the prefect banned any protest or other gathering from noon to 8pm Monday.
Police admit loss of control
Nunez acknowledged that authorities had “lost control” in some major cities on Saturday, with hundreds of businesses looted. “You can’t look shopkeepers in the eye when hundreds of businesses have been looted and say: ‘We haven’t lost control in some of these major cities.’ Obviously,” the minister said.
Nunez blamed violence on “hordes of troublemakers and looters” and “far-left activists”, and acknowledged that police strategy needs to be adapted “in the face of extremely mobile groups”. He also said, “I submitted my resignation because I am responsible for everything that is happening.”
In Paris, clean-up crews and firefighters cleared shattered glass and other debris from the streets today. Ouri Zagoury, owner of a video game shop near Paris’ Place de la Republique, said he closed the store on Saturday afternoon but then saw looters forcing their way in on surveillance cameras. “There were so many people coming in and out. And even though I called the police, they said not to intervene, that they would come, but they never did, which is another problem,” the shop owner said.
Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right National Rally, said: “The government has failed, the head of state has failed in his essential duty of protecting the French people.” He added, “I call on the people of France now, beyond their right to protest, to use their voting power.” Bardella is campaigning alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose polling numbers have for months suggested she is the front runner in next spring’s presidential election.
