Protesters across France rally over rising living costs, joining students' grievances
Summary
Protesters across France called for street demonstrations Saturday against rising living costs, joining high school students’ grievances after more than three weeks of school blockades. The mobilization was backed by the CGT labor union and social-media calls to revive the yellow vest movement that emerged in 2018. Officials expected more than 80 marches and hundreds of actions nationwide, while President Emmanuel Macron urged respect for people and property.
Key Facts
- Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said more than 80 marches and hundreds of protest actions were expected nationwide, including spontaneous gatherings, demonstrations and blockades.
- The CGT called for higher wages and pensions, lower prices and protection of public services.
- A Paris march was scheduled to begin in the early afternoon at Republic Plaza, while police banned some other proposed gatherings in central Paris.
- Many Metro stations were closed at police request around the Champs-Elysees, the presidential palace, parliament and government offices.
- Nuñez suspended use of a type of police stun grenade against young demonstrators after a 15-year-old lost a hand.
A protester waving a French national flag walks past a fire during clashes prior to the start of a demonstration to protest against the "high cost of living," in Marseille, southern France, Oct. 17, as part of a nationwide call for mobilization bringing together various groups expressing their anger: former "Yellow Vests," secondary school and university students, climate activists and even farmers. AFP-Yonhap
PARIS — Protesters across France called for street demonstrations Saturday against rising living costs, joining high school students' grievances over education conditions after more than three weeks of school blockades.
Saturday’s mobilization follows calls on social media to revive the yellow vest movement , which emerged in 2018 against social injustice. Student groups protesting since mid-September have urged supporters to join.
The CGT, one of France’s major labor unions, also backs the protests, calling for “higher wages and pensions, lower prices and the protection of public services that meet people’s needs.”
President Emmanuel Macron appealed Friday for calm and respect for people and property as officials warned of possible violence.
“There is a constitutional right to protest and to express oneself, and I have always been vigilant and attentive that that right is fully respected,” Macron said Friday in Brussels. “But this right comes with the need to respect. Respect for people, respect for property, and therefore a commitment not to insult or destroy.”
Macron denounced as “unacceptable” the potential presence of people “solely to cause damage and create unrest.”
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said hundreds of protest actions and more than 80 marches were expected nationwide, including spontaneous gatherings, street demonstrations and blockades.
Protesters hold the French flag and the Palestinian flag as they stand on the statue of the Place de la Republique during a demonstration against the cost of living and rising fuel prices in Paris as part of nationwide protests called by the "Yellow Vests" movement, joined by French high school and university students, teachers and parents demanding better school conditions and government action, as well as labor unions, workers, farmers and retirees, France, Oct. 17. Reuters-Yonhap
In Paris, a march is set to begin in the early afternoon at Republic Plaza, northeast of the city center.
Police banned some other proposed gatherings in central Paris. Many Metro stations were closed Saturday at police request, including those around the Champs-Elysees and near the presidential palace, parliament and government offices.
In recent weeks, France has seen thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries, and schools set on fire as the new school year descended into nationwide student protests that are influencing the country's presidential election campaign and drawing international attention.
Among protesters, particularly gruesome wounds suffered by some teenagers have been blamed on police riot-control weapons. Nuñez suspended the use of a type of police stun grenade against the young demonstrators after a 15-year-old lost a hand.
On Tuesday, climate and social justice activist Greta Thunberg joined students at a high school in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.
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