Police in Paris issued a five-day ban on protests near 10 secondary schools and five universities after weeks of unrest.
The order bans unauthorised gatherings within a 100-meter radius from November 16 to November 20, according to the Paris police prefecture. Protests began in France in September over poor secondary school conditions before spreading to universities, workers, and a cost-of-living movement as authorities try to control blockades.
Paris police chief Patrice Faure signed the order following what he described in an announcement as “numerous disruptions and blockades around certain secondary schools and establishments of higher learning” alongside “persistent violence”, BBC News reported.
Faure detailed that the demonstrations led to public property damage, fires, and clashes. He said that the incidents involved “d’importantes violences à l’encontre des membres de la communauté éducative ainsi que des heurts avec les forces de l’ordre”, according to TF1Info.
Schools and Universities Affected
The restrictions apply directly to 10 lycées across several arrondissements. The affected secondary schools are Charlemagne in the 4th arrondissement, Lavoisier in the 5th, Fénelon and Montaigne in the 6th, Chaptal and Racine in the 8th, Dorian in the 11th, Pierre-Gilles-de-Gennes in the 13th, and Carnot and Balzac in the 17th.
Five university sites are included in the ban. These are the faculty of science and engineering at Sorbonne Université in the 5th arrondissement, the science campus of Université Paris-Cité in the 7th, the René-Cassin and Lourcine centers of Université Panthéon-Sorbonne in the 13th, and an annex of Université Panthéon-Assas on Rue de Vaugirard in the 15th, La Nouvelle République reported.
Police Arrest 1,548 People During Paris Protests
Police have arrested 1,548 people in the Paris metropolitan area since the protests began, Faure said on Sunday. Mayors from eight Parisian districts had contacted the regional education authority on Friday to demand measures to secure entrances and exits at blockaded institutions.
Faure said that the actions are driven “le plus souvent par une minorité d’élèves” but restrict educational access for everyone else.
“entravent pour tous les autres leur liberté d’aller et venir et le droit fondamental” to receive an education, Faure said. He added that the blockades “attisent la colère de certains parents d’élèves souhaitant la fin de ces entraves, lesquelles ont conduit à des tensions entre ces parents et des lycéens mobilisés”.