French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Monday that he had asked local authorities to impose partial curfews following a weekend of rioting and looting, as mayors of the country’s biggest cities demanded answers over what they described as failures in security preparations.
Lecornu said he was determined to restore public order and that the government could declare a state of emergency if necessary. For now, however, he considered localised curfews more appropriate.
“These curfews must be local and partial. It is out of the question to put all of Paris under curfew,” he told reporters.
He did not specify which cities would impose the restrictions or what form they would take.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said there were no plans to cancel Tuesday evening’s football match between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona.
The unrest has intensified pressure on President Emmanuel Macron’s government, with concerns over security failures adding to existing tensions over the cost of living, declining public services, a weak economy and rising public debt.
Bangladeshis largely safe
Bangladeshis living in France have largely remained safe amid a wave of rioting and looting that has swept parts of the country, although several shops owned by people of Bangladeshi origin have been targeted, a community representative told TIMES.
Around 150,000 Bangladeshis live in France, and members of the community are staying in contact and helping one another amid the unrest, said Rabbani Khan, a councillor of Bangladeshi origin in the municipality of Stains.
“We are in contact with one another and trying to help others,” Khan told TIMES.
He said three or four incidents of looting involving shops owned by people of Bangladeshi origin had been reported so far, but no Bangladeshi casualties had been reported to him.
In one incident, a video showing the looting of a shop owned by a person of Bangladeshi origin went viral on social media. Individuals and various aid groups rallied to support the owner, raising around €60,000, Khan said.
He described Bangladeshis in France as law-abiding residents who were ready to assist the authorities in any way they could.
Macron rejects minister’s resignation
Macron rejected Nunez’s offer to resign following the violence, instead directing him to end the barricades and looting and ensure transparency over what the president described as failures in intelligence and anticipation.
Nunez, a former Paris police chief, acknowledged that the deployment of 60,000 police officers and other security personnel on Saturday had not been enough to control violent crowds in some cities.
The mayors of Paris, Marseille and Lyon criticised the government’s preparedness in a joint opinion article published in Libération.
They said they were accustomed to demonstrations but had felt that entire sections of their cities had been left without protection during Saturday’s unrest.
The mayors called for action to repair the damage and address residents’ anger over the scale of the violence.
The protests followed weeks of student demonstrations over declining public services and cost-of-living pressures. In several cities, including Paris, Marseille and Lyon, peaceful gatherings were overtaken by rioters, leading to vandalism and looting.
In Paris, between 300 and 400 businesses were vandalised over the weekend, Dominique Restino, head of the Paris Chamber of Commerce, told BFM television.
Luxury boutiques in central Paris were among the targets. The entrance to a Dior boutique was smashed, while windows at stores belonging to Rolex, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren and Gucci were damaged.
Marseille, one of the cities worst affected, imposed a ban on gatherings and demonstrations.
Students continued to organise gatherings and blockades at locations including the Louvre and Sciences Po university in central Paris, despite the start of the school holidays.
French unions have called for another round of national strikes and demonstrations on 5 November.
The unrest comes at a sensitive time for Macron’s government, which faces the challenge of passing a budget aimed at bringing public finances under control. Further tensions over security could add to political uncertainty and unsettle investors.
French assets underperformed broader European markets on Monday, although market movements were more limited than during some previous episodes of political turmoil.
European governments have advised their citizens travelling to France to avoid large crowds and exercise caution.
Editorial notes: British spelling, punctuation, sentence structure and attribution have been standardised. All supplied facts, figures, quotations and controversies have been retained.
Two points merit attention before publication. First, “Paris orders partial curfews” implies that curfews have already been ordered, whereas the report says the prime minister asked local authorities to impose them. “France seeks partial curfews after riots” would more accurately reflect that distinction.
Second, the deck’s “Bangladeshis safe in France” is broader than the evidence, which comes from a community representative reporting no known Bangladeshi casualties. “Bangladeshis largely safe amid French unrest as Macron faces security questions” would preserve the appropriate qualification.
