As France braces for new protests on Saturday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez warned that calls for violence and looting were circulating online and pledged to deploy 70,000 police officers to secure order across the country.
“We will be uncompromising with rioters, looters and all those who commit acts of violence,” Nunez told reporters on Friday.
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The regular police officers will be reinforced by elite units, mounted police and heavy vehicles, and also equipped with helicopters, water cannon, drones and anti-drone systems, according to the minister.
“We will be extremely vigilant,” he added, vowing to “let absolutely nothing pass.”
Paris storekeepers prepare for more looting
The apparent show of force comes a week after riots ripped through Paris and other major cities.
While the ongoing political standoff started with students demanding better facilities, more teachers, and other improvements to the country’s education system, it has grown into a general outpouring of anger over the cost of living.
Last Saturday, the protests escalated into violent riots, with authorities accusing radical militants and bands of young looters of taking advantage of the protesters’ anger to sow chaos.
Police have faced groups of masked looters burning cars and buildings. Thousands of stores were ransacked.
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Addressing reporters on Friday, the interior minister said that the unrest was “completely unacceptable” and said the authorities “will do everything in our power” to avoid a repeat of the violence.
Meanwhile, Paris shopkeepers were seen boarding up their windows. The city council called on residents and business owners to remove objects that could be set on fire or used as either projectiles or barricades.
Who will be marching on Saturday?
Nunez also said authorities will maintain curfews in designated areas of the city. This will include restrictions between 11 pm and 6 am in two central Paris squares, according to the local police.
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The police approved only one protest march, organized by labor union CGT, on a limited route through Paris on Saturday. The authorities rejected requests by France’s biggest student union UNEF and its anti-establishment Yellow Vest movement to hold their own rallies.
However, UNEF pledged to go ahead with its protest regardless, while Yellow Vest supporters were expected to join the official march.
Authorities had banned all protests in France’s second largest city, Marseille, before walking the decision back and allowing a union demonstration. Authorities also intend to keep protesters away from the center of Lyon, France’s third most populous city.
Students ‘not satisfied’ after meeting Macron
The government, led by centrist President Emmanuel Macron, sought to differentiate between what they see as legitimate protests and the violent unrest.
Macron himself also dismissed the narrative that Islamist extremists and migrants were driving the violence. He has, however, pointed to far-left groups and accused them of trying to stage a coup.
On Friday, Macron also held his first-ever meeting with representatives of secondary school students. However, the meeting ended with the pupils calling for more protests.
“We are not satisfied,” said student representative Nathanael Combary, president of campaign group High School Renewal.
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He told reporters that the president had been “attentive” but that the students were still waiting for concrete proposals to be presented at their meeting with the prime minister on Monday.
He urged his fellow students to “continue to mobilize” and maintain a “standoff” with the government.
Edited by: Rana Taha
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