The youth riots across France have already cost the country at least 30 million euros and have resulted in thousands of arrests, the federal government revealed on Friday.
According to the Ministry of Justice, authorities have arrested some 6,877 people since the start of the so-called student demonstrations in France last month. The MoJ revealed that 86 per cent of all those arrested during the riots have been under the age of 18.
So far, 2,376 people are facing charges, 65 per cent of whom have already been brought before a judge. Le Figaro reported that authorities have remanded 21 people in custody, including 15 adults and 6 minors.
Meanwhile, the Élysée Palace has reportedly estimated that the youth riots have cost “at least 30 million euros” ($33 million) since the demonstrations began in mid-September. Although the protests claimed to be about a supposed lack of investment in education, students have damaged hundreds of school facilities over the past month.
In the latest example, a school outside of Bordeaux was ransacked on Thursday amid a student protest. Local prosecutors claimed that around 30 to 40 people broke into the school, smashed or stole around a dozen computers worth around 3,000 euros a piece, before setting fires within the building. In total, the school estimates that it suffered “between €100,000 and €200,000” in damages.
Minister of National Education Édouard Geffray said on Friday that more than 100 school staff have been injured so far during the riots.
Police have also been a major target of the youth unrest. The Paris prosecutor’s office said that a 15-year-old boy will face juvenile court on February 23 for allegedly attacking a female police officer. During the viral altercation, people could be heard shouting “Wallah, kill her”.
The Ministry of Interior reported this week that the level of public street violence hit record levels in September, likely in party as a result of the youth demonstrations, with some 20,000 violent incidents being recorded last month alone, or 700 instances per day.
Although the protests appear to be growing and spreading, with similar demos staged in Belgium and Italy on Friday, the government reportedly expects the riots to slow.
However, a student at Paris 8 University told France24 on Thursday: “We’re here, we’re demonstrating, and we won’t stop. Until October, November, December if necessary. Nothing will stop us.”
Paris police have accused the far-left, including the radical La France Insoumise (France in Rebellion/LFI) party of presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, of helping organise and spread the protests nationally.
The LFI Mayor of the multicultural Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko, who was specifically cited by police as having instigated the riots by defending hypothetical use of violence against law enforcement, claimed that the police response to the riots has been racist.
Conversely, opponents, including U.S. President Donald Trump, said this week that the riots were a result of mass migration and the importation of millions of Muslims.
“This isn’t about schools, this is about Islam wanting to take over a once great Country!” he warned.