Riots in France
Two teenagers died on October, 27th in Clichy-sous-Bois, a city close to Paris in the projects suburbs. In the afternoon of that day, 10 teenagers tried to break in a site hut in Livry-Gargan, a city near Clichy-sous-Bois. The police caught 6 of them and were still looking for the other 4 as they saw 3 teenagers climbing the wall of a power station. Because they knew it is very dangerous to go in there and becausqe they are legally not allowed to get in, they decided not to follow the kids. After a while, they arrested two young people in a cemetery, which they thought were the same kids. Two out of the three teenagers who penetrate the power station have been electrocuted after hiding in the site.
Now some people argue that they had to hide there because they were chased by the police, like they always are in these cities. They also say that the police should have rescued them because they knew it was very dangerous for the the kids to be in this power station (not assisting somedody who is in danger).
Since then, riots take place every nights in the projetcs outside Paris but particularly around Clichy-sous-Bois. Cars and trashes are burnt and the police became a target for the rebels. On October 30th, a police type teargas grenade was found in a muslum mosque in Clichy-sous-bois which made the situation even worse, even if the police say they did not do it.
As far as I am concerned, I don’t think we can blame the police for chasing teenagers who were trying to break in a private site. What happened is just an excuse for this teenagers to show the country and the government they are not happy with the way things go in their lives.
The situation in France about having everybody living together in a peaceful environment has always been very complex. It all started right after World War II when France asked people from its colonies to come over and work in France. The country needed to be rebuilt and it needed work force. People from North Africa arrived by the 50’s with their families. The people who left their country to come and work in France didn’t have much education that is why they saw this as an opportunity.
The french government built projects around Paris to provide housing to these people. This is the first mistake the government made. If it wanted to make these people part of the country, made them become french citizens, why would a government would put all of them together, in poor neighboorhoods, outside the City? This was the best way to start the process of differentiation.
Then as France entered the 90’s, the third generation of these people were born, and their families were still living in the projects. What is happening in France right now is the result of fifty years of racism against these people and ignorance from the french government. The third generation is french as any other kid in the country. But they have a background (such as their name) that is not accepted by a lot of french citizens. The french minister Sarkozy keeps on sending police buses to the projects. He takes the problem in the wrong way. He does repression, we need prevention. Let the police do what they have to do and focus and prevention. There are so much to do to improve the situation I can’t believe they still send the police to fight with the kids.
Even though I don’t think the police should be blamed for what happened on Ocotber 27th, the people who are in the streets every nights are french citizens. I don’t consider them as a minority anymore. The french government should take them into account instead of dreaming to get rid of them as minister Sarkozy said on TV on October 30th.
Source: Lemonde.fr
Chronology
PREVIOUS: Is this an immigration issue?
posted by adaveine @ 1:25 PM
8 Comments:
I am a little confused: The people who colonized outside of France before the 50's- were they French citizens initially? Why didn't they reside in France, versus residing in North Africa and in other places...? I am not quite able to ditinguish whether the French government had intentions to welcome these individuals into the country for permanent residency, or just plainly saw them as temporary visitors part of the reconstruction phase. If the government had no intention for differentiation, they should have formulated a better strategy to influence the long term effects we see today.
From my point of view, what happen today in suburbs around Paris is an anger deeply anchored in people from these areas which expresses itself, as well as the desire to show to the society that even if they live beside Paris, they exist.
What makes effect on the young people of suburbs, is the permanent presence of the police and the arrogance of the forces of intervention, not to help them but to pursue them.
Cities have to mobilize intermediaries who are able to defuse conflicts. However, such attempts don’t go in the heart of the problem if there are no true offers made for the young people, which allow them to become integrated into the society by working. These people must be a part of the solution which authorities are seeking and not only regarded as the problem to solve.
The massive unemployment, the uncertainty, the discriminations, the racism and the police violence to the every day life engender everywhere explosive situations
More interested in his presidential ambition than worried by the problems of the French, since 2002 Nicolas Sarkozy was only speaking and gesturing on the security without acting on the insecurity. Neither the violence, nor the crime, really moved back, the verbal provocations of this minister eventually fired suburbs. Three and a half years after his arrival, Nicolas Sarkozy's defeat is total today.
The reality is, as soon as the suburban calm down nobody will talk about their issues and until French authorities and even French people are hypocrite, double-tongued, the problem with the minorities will never be solved.
I don't think that burning cars or trashes are the solution to that problem. Of course it has a lot to do with immigrants? No we should say with "french people" living in the projects. The police job is to secure the area and I think that most people feel safe when they know that the police is around. Don't blame the police because they are doing their job, furthermore the burnt cars don't belong to the Government but to simple people who need their cars to go to work!
We shouldn't use the fact that some people live in the project as an excuse to violence, France is not the only country facing immigration issues ( poverty racism...), but simply it has not find the appropriate solution.
France harm by its suburb crisis: causes and consequences.
This is the eleventh day of crisis in the French suburbs and the problems are going further and they currently occurred outside of Paris and its suburb.
This crisis was launched after the death of two teenagers who were electrocuted after clambering into a power sub-station while apparently fleeing police.
I believe strongly that there is a problem on the way to direct the country of France.
When a politician like Nicolas Sarkozy, the actual interior minister, promises to visit such area or such commune every week (where there are some poor families and many violence problems), it’s only to increase his popularity.
He is trying to show that he is concerned by the problem of families who have difficulties to live decently but at the same time he is saying that he is going to clean this kind of area.
He can’t be friendly and at the same time aggressive. This strategy can’t work and the current riots are the result of the way that the government takes care of suburbs.
To my mind I think that it’s the way to run the country which is the problem and not an immigration issue.
Most of the foreign media believe strongly that it’s an immigration issue but France needs this immigrant because we haven’t got enough workers for certain kind of work.
We are always thinking that we delocalized production abroad because of the cost but another problem is that France needs some manual workers and these workers are mainly the immigrants.
Indeed, nowadays, more and more people are doing long studies (since French universities are really affordable not to say free) which leads to the fact that developed countries are having more and more employees in the services (banking, marketing…) and product no more goods except for instance cars where they use mainly machines.
Without immigrants, a country like France would not be able even to work normally.
I mean that they provide a workforce that is essential for France.
The question is not about immigrant but about policies.
I would like to clarify some points to e_c_moreno and everybody about French colonization.
The 3 countries of North Africa (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia) were colonized by France. Morocco and Tunisia had specific status and obtained their independence without too big of a damage compared to Algeria which was a French territorial division.
After a bloody war, Algeria eventually got its independence in 1962.
As has been said, France still needed workforce after WW2 and this workforce came mostly from Algeria, to a broader extent North Africa, with no education at all like my parents.
At that time, my parents were given opportunities really easily even though they could not speak, write and read French at all.
They were given the least unqualified jobs without any support to be part of the French society. They were just urgently needed but the political and social situation in Algeria for example is such that it is an uncomparable opportunity to be working in France and fleeing the misery.
Nowadays, we, the 2nd and 3rd generation, we have had the chance to be offered education in France our parents did not.
And to my mind, most young people of our generation do not really want to be part of this society and they feel they always have to rebel against it.
However, French government has not helped at all by gathering those poor minorities in projects making them feel like they live in ghettos and they do not belong to any society.
I have some relatives living in undecent conditions in the suburbs of Paris, not understanding French for the 1st generation and having the same way of living as in their original countries.
There has been some sort of classification from the outset, a bad strategy from the government and no motivation from these young people.
I have had the chance to escape all this thanks to education that I valued but most of them do not because they think it is useless for them as long as they have arabic backgrounds, they will never have the same job opportunities as French do.
That is true. Racism is really strong when it comes to recruiting even if your academic backgrounds are excellent.
That is why at this point affirmative action "might" work but with caution and only on this matter.
Furthermore, I think most of us are fed up with the word "integration". The media always talks about integration whereas I never knew that we had to integrate, I never knew that we were apart. I realized then that this word was applying also to me and it is shocking to hear that eventually people do not consider you are part of that society whereas you never felt that way.
All this has emphasized the fact that there are 2 distinct worlds living in the same territory and external exaggeration from the media as well which digs an even wider gap between those 2 worlds.
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France is not the only country in which people experience racism.
Individuals should support the society first and not the contrary. Don't expect people to help you if you don't want to help yourself.
People should stop focus on racism every day; personally for me that isn't a big issue, I do believe race, color or what else don't make you different or inferior. People should keep going and try to improve themselves, that's the best way to fight again racism.
I have to answer to "Personally, racism isn't a big issue". I think the person does not understand the history between France and North Africa and that it is not about what your "personal" view of racism is.
When immigrants were looked for in North Africa, the aim was for them to work without giving them any social support to integrate the society they were supposed to work for and therefore they were all gathered together. That was the first mistake.
Consequently, the young who were born in that environment grew up very differently but they do not feel they are victimized. They feel that they belong to their own community.
But there are still some of them who completed their education, achieved great things and do not build up a career in France because with all that is happening in France, this community is always being pointed out by the media and stereotyped.
Repression is not a solution to help them, it has proven to be worsening.
Additionally, motivation and the will to be socially and professionally "integrated" have to arise within these young.
As for me, I feel that it is a shame that they have been reflecting such an image to the French population. I think that they have to understand that nothing will be possible as long as they are not willing to change their lives without expecting the government to find solutions for them.
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