French High School Protests Grow as Police Detain Over 600

Protests by French high school students grew after starting last week. On Wednesday, security forces detained more than 600 people. BBC said most of the hundreds arrested were under 18.

Wednesday clashes injured 83 police officers and gendarmes. They also injured 32 teachers and students. Protests affected 356 schools.

Causes and spread

Teenagers blocked their high schools for several days. The movement began in Ile-de-France, around Paris, then spread to other regions.

BBC reported marches in Dijon, Lyon, Strasbourg, Lille, and Marseille. DW named Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, and Lille as cities hit hardest on Wednesday. In Lille, police used tear gas again during clashes.

Students cited crowded classrooms and too few teachers. They also complained about schedules and classrooms getting too hot in hot weather. They protested high schoolwork and poor learning materials.

Seventeen-year-old student Fadila told Reuters that cockroaches and rats were everywhere at school. Classroom temperatures changed with the weather, from tiring heat to below-zero cold.

Government and political response

Authorities said clashes and fires injured dozens of security workers. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez condemned what he called an increase in violence. He listed attacks on police, thrown objects, spoken insults, and attempts to start fires.

President Emmanuel Macron said young people's complaints were fair. But they did not excuse violence or attacks on police and teachers. He said high schools must stay open and allow people to share knowledge, not face blockades or burning trash bins.

Macron and Nunez blamed far-left groups for encouraging violence at protests. Nunez said people in some places went from one school to another. They called on students to use violence.

In recent days, officials and politicians criticized France Unbowed (LFI) and its presidential candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon. They said their words increased students' anger.

On Monday, Mélenchon accused the government of repression with an obvious racist meaning. He wrote on social media, calling for young people to be left alone. He urged activists and LFI members to support the protests.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called the racism charge an insult. He said Mélenchon was creating divisions instead of helping bring calm back.