Why are there riots in Paris, France?

Cause of riots

On October 27, two boys in Clichy-Sous-Bois, a town in the northern suburbs of Paris, France, were electrocuted while hiding from the police. Hundreds of teenagers in the city were injured as a result. They took to the streets to protest, burning cars and trash cans, smashing shops and government offices, and clashing with the police. The riots spread.

Timetable of Riots

On October 27, two African-American Muslim teenagers in the town of Clichy-Sous-Bois, a northern suburb of Paris, ran into a substation in a panic to avoid police pursuit. Killed by electrocution. Hundreds of teenagers in the town took to the streets to protest, clashing with police and rioting ensued.

On October 28, the riots continued, and many cars were burned on the streets of Clichy-Sous-Bois. Two days of rioting left 23 police officers injured and 13 arrested.

On October 29, hundreds of residents of the town of Clichy-Sous-Bois held a silent march between the city hall and the substation where the incident occurred.

On October 30, the police fired tear gas at a mosque in the town of Clichy-sous-Bois, and the riots further escalated.

On October 31, Interior Minister Sarkozy visited Argenteyes on the outskirts of Paris and was met by a crowd of protesters.

On November 1, riots spread from the town of Clichy-sous-Bois to the town of Aunay-sous-Bois, injuring more than 30 people in the area.

On November 2, French President Chirac made his first speech on the riots, calling on the people to remain calm.

On November 3, the riot entered its seventh day, and the conflict intensified. Participants in the riots opened fire on police and firefighters and burned about 40 cars, two buses, multiple trash cans and some bus stops.

The riots in Paris, France exposed the intricate political disputes

The riots around Paris, France, took on a new ominous sign on the 3rd. During the riots, some people shot at police and firefighters. The French are worried that the declaration of "40 nights of riots" may become a reality.

The riots exposed the long-standing shortcomings of French society's immigration and assimilation policies, and also brought about intricate political struggles.

The riot escalated

On the evening of the 3rd, gunfire rang out during the riot. In the Seine-Saint-Denis department north of Paris, four gunshots were heard from three riot scenes. The shooters targeted police and firefighters. Fortunately no one was injured. Signs of the escalation of riots are also reflected in the expansion of violence methods and scale. Riot participants were no longer content with setting fire to cars, shops and throwing stones. On the morning of the 3rd, two commuter trains connecting Paris and Charles de Gaulle Airport were attacked by stones, and one line was forced to suspend operation. The attackers forced the train to stop and broke its windows. One of the female passengers was scratched by the glass. In the town of Aunay-sous-Bois, one of the areas most devastated by the riots, youths besieged a police station and set fire to a Renault car dealership, a supermarket and a local gym. In the Seine-Saint-Denis department alone, nine people were injured and 315 vehicles were burned during a week of riots.

Social Cost

The trigger for this riot seems trivial. On October 27, two teenagers in the town of Clichy-Sous-Bois, a northeastern suburb of Paris, were electrocuted while evading police pursuit. Angry local youths began to set fires to vent their dissatisfaction. Within a week, the riots quickly spread to more than ten towns around Paris. Some people attributed the expansion of the unrest to the "violent remarks" of French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. At the beginning of the riots, the interior minister claimed that he would use water cannons to "clear out" the "rabble" in the suburbs.

But more people attributed the riots to two reasons. The first is the huge gap in wealth, security, and employment between France's large cities and surrounding suburbs. The second is that France's long-standing racial, ethnic, and cultural assimilation policies have only deepened the antagonism. The area around Paris where the riots occurred is mainly populated by African and Arab immigrants. Most of them live in houses built in the 1960s and 1970s. In order to alleviate the housing pressure in Paris, the French government built a large number of residential buildings in the suburbs and surrounding provinces.

High population density, large numbers of immigrants, and high unemployment have gradually made these areas synonymous with poverty, crime, drug abuse, the forgotten, and the damaged. Especially in public residential areas provided by the government, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 25 is even as high as 40%.

Manuel Valls, the mayor of Evry, a suburb of Paris, told the dpa reporter: "We are paying the price for more than 30 years of social, regional and racial segregation."

Political Disputes

European media believe that as a strong candidate in France's 2007 presidential election, French Interior Minister Sarkozy has begun to pay the price for his tough speeches. The British "Daily Telegraph" said that the idea of ??"clearing out" the suburbs of "rabble" is simply the tone of the far right, and "he has ruined his own opportunities."

Sarkozy's biggest rival, Prime Minister de Villepin, has also come under fire for his policies failing to combat marginalization in the suburbs.

The Czech People’s Daily said that both Sarkozy and De Villepin wanted to use this riot to attack their opponents and gain political capital for their presidential campaigns. “French politicians regard it as a way to gain points.” opportunity".

Some European right-wingers regard the riots in Paris as "a warning to Europe" because many European countries face the same problems of immigration, cultural integration, and economic disparity.

Feng Wuyong (Xinhua News Agency special article)

The Paris riots reflect the lack of European immigration policy

Although the French government took drastic measures to quell the riots, I believe that after the riots, society Order will be restored soon, but if we look into the cause of this riot from a rational perspective, it can be said that it is the result of the intensification of France's immigration policy and the principle of "exclusion and assimilation".

————Zhao Junjie

The riots in the suburbs of Paris, France, which started on October 27 and continue to this day, have attracted great attention from European countries and also reflected the changes in immigration policies of Western European countries in recent years. Missing.

Although the French government has taken decisive measures to quell the riots and believes that social order will soon be restored after the riots, if we look into the cause of the riots from a rational perspective, it can be said that it is France’s immigration policy And the result of the intensification of the principle of "anti-corruption and assimilation".

As we all know, France has entered an aging society, and the birth rate of the new generation of native French people is relatively low. In order to inject new vitality into the society and maintain sustained economic growth, the French government has absorbed a large number of North Africans in recent years. The country and Turkish immigrants, the vast majority of whom believe in Islam, are obviously different from the French nation in terms of religious beliefs, values, and daily life customs. Due to the lack of employment opportunities and social security, as well as the lack of good education, the new French immigrants have gradually formed a marginalized "socially disadvantaged group" in the city. Take this riot as an example. The living conditions of African-American immigrants in the northern suburbs of Paris are poor, the unemployment rate is more than twice that of Paris, the gap between rich and poor is huge, and the crime rate is high. The new generation of immigrants is deeply concerned about the French government's immigration policy. Due to dissatisfaction, nowadays, when encountering tragedies such as the murder of their compatriots, riots will naturally occur in which social groups vent their dissatisfaction.

Therefore, this social riot is no accident. It fully demonstrates the many shortcomings of the French government’s immigration and social policies.

According to statistics from the French Ministry of the Interior, there are currently as many as 751 sensitive suburbs in France such as Clichy-Sous-Bois that hide social unrest. Such areas have high population density, large numbers of immigrants, and few employment opportunities. Poverty and crime are widespread, and violence and racial discrimination exist. Although the French government has certain policy support for such areas, it often regards immigrants from such areas as a threat to the French social welfare system. In particular, French Interior Minister Sarkozy has always advocated "selective immigration" and He "purged" suburban immigrant groups. He even issued some tough words in handling the riots, claiming "zero tolerance" for the rioters, which naturally aroused public outrage.

This large-scale riot was triggered by many problems with the immigration policy implemented by the French government and the large gap between rich and poor in the suburbs. After the riots, the French government should seriously sit down and think about why the principle of "revolution and assimilation" is not recognized? Why do tough immigration policies cause social backlash? The spokesperson of the French Socialist Party claimed that "the implementation of security policies in wealthy areas has lost the ordinary people." This statement makes sense. Although France has always emphasized freedom, equality, human rights, and fraternity, it is often difficult to achieve this in real life. Equality between native French and new immigrants, racial discrimination and police violence do exist, and the United States is no exception.

Learning from this painful experience, the French authorities should take this as a warning and attach great importance to the inequality and wealth gap in French society, instead of tightening immigration policies and creating more social instability. Similarly, other European countries also have social problems with immigrants and should take the Paris riots as a warning.

□Zhao Junjie (researcher at the European Institute of Social Sciences)