US Embassy Issues France Warning Amid Fiery Protests - Newsweek

The U.S. Embassy and Consulates has issued a warning to Americans in France over student protests it says have "become violent."

The U.S. embassy in France posted an alert, advising Americans to avoid areas where demonstrations are taking place, plan alternative routes, allow extra time for travel, and keep on top of police and local media updates.

For the last two weeks, France has been rocked by student protests over teacher shortages, deteriorating facilities and reports of rats in classrooms, with more than 5,000 people arrested and 600 police officers injured in the movement which Paris police have said is "being overtaken by violence."

It comes as France braces for a day of nationwide protests on Tuesday.

Several high-school and university student unions have called for Tuesday to see demonstrations carried out across the country.

Union Étudiante, a university student union, published a list of scheduled gatherings including in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Nice and Marseille.

As of Tuesday morning, high school students had already blockaded their high schools. Despite being closed with many other schools in the country, at Hélène Boucher lycée, in Paris, demonstrators laid trash cans and bicycles on their sides to create barricades.

Labor unions have also called for workers to demonstrate in support of the student movement.

Protesters are demonstrating over what they have described as “catastrophic learning conditions” and a lack of resources.

The movement gained traction in Paris, after students and staff from schools there mobilized last month.

Complaints include too many students per class, a lack of teachers and support staff and schools left in bad condition, according to the Union Syndicale Lycéenne (USL), which represents high school students, and Union Étudiante.

“Students, particularly those from working-class neighborhoods, are denouncing the government's lack of concern for their future,” the unions said in a joint statement on September 29.

They also spoke out against what they called “the alarming lack of resources in our universities,” listing a shortage of professors and “dilapidated buildings” and accusing the French government of trying to “exclude as many young people as possible from higher education.”

Some of the most vivid complaints emerged from schools in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, where demonstrations first drew national attention. Students at the Paul-Éluard and Bartholdi high schools described deteriorating facilities, absent teachers and poor maintenance.

"There are cockroaches and rats everywhere in the school," a 17-year-old student Reuters identified as Fadila said during demonstrations. The student also described classrooms that could become sweltering in warm weather and freezing in winter.

Students quoted by L'Humanité said they were protesting for "the right to education and dignity" and accused authorities of responding to their concerns with police force rather than investments in schools.

"The only response to our demands is police violence?" a 16-year-old student identified as Ayeb told the publication. "Is that the image the state wants to send to us, the adults of tomorrow?"

The government and police response has been firm, with at least 5,060 people arrested so far, according to France's Justice Ministry, 87 percent of which are minors.

More ​than 1,800 people are being prosecuted, the ministry said, without specifying charges, Reuters reports. Some ⁠790 cases had been dismissed.

At least 600 police officers and 215 teenagers have been injured in clashes.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has ordered ministers to tackle student demands, saying in a recent letter that reviews have found “highly disparate realities across different regions: canceled classes, dilapidated facilities, long school days, anxiety about future academic paths, and a general feeling, extending beyond the school, of not being heard.”

But he added: “Firmness in the face of violence and attempts to exploit it must go hand in hand with listening to legitimate concerns.”

He said the government would expedite the review of a new "vandal-pays" bill which will “ensure that those responsible for damage bear the full cost of the harm caused.”

“Taxpayers should not have to shoulder this burden, especially given the current strain on our public finances,” he said.

Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Edward Pearcey.