France Orders Systematic Judicial Action After Violence Breaks Out Inside Some Lycées

Overview

• The government escalated its response on Thursday by ordering a “saisine systématique” of the justice system to prosecute acts of violence at or inside lycées after a wave of recent incidents.
• Officials reported 609 people injured in the unrest, including 364 students and 245 education staff, and said several arrests have already been made in cases such as deliberate fires at two Montpellier high schools.
• Police and prefectures described new episodes of mortiers fired inside school corridors that forced repeated evacuations and temporary closures, with multiple sites in Toulouse, Île-de-France, Meaux and Cugnaux affected.
• School principals and their unions have mobilised to denounce attacks on proviseurs and demand state protection while union leaders and staff representatives contest government claims that a small minority of education personnel are complicit.
• The unrest grew out of long-standing complaints over Parcoursup and school conditions, the region of Île-de-France estimates more than 170 lycées were damaged at about €10 million, and national youth and public-sector actions planned for mid-November could keep tensions high.