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Saturday, October 11, 2008

FRANCE

France's urban rage

Two teenagers were killed in a troubled suburb of Paris when their scooter collided with a police car. Within hours, there were clashes between local youths and police as the violence spread to neighbouring suburbs.

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On Nov. 25, a police patrol car and a motorbike collided, killing two teenagers in Villiers-le-Bel, a suburb located just north of Paris. Within hours, clashes between angry youths and police broke out in Villiers-le-Bel, with the violence rapidly spreading to other economically deprived neighborhoods.

As youths torched vehicles, garbage bins, shops and buildings, lighting up the night sky in an angry blaze of urban rage, the scene was eerily reminiscent of the 2005 riots, which were sparked after two youths were electrocuted in the northern Parisian suburb of Clichy-Sous-Bois during a police chase.

Tensions between local communities and the police are high in several economically deprived suburbs, often referred to as “cités” in French. Analysts say the failure of public services in these neighbourhoods - including inadequate mass transit systems and overcrowding in schools - along with high unemployment rates are the some of the root causes of the problems plaguing the suburbs. Analysts say the dismantling of the so-called “proximity police,” which was launched in the 1990s by the Socialist Party, has widened the gap between police forces and local communities. The scrapping of the proximity police force was one of the first measures Nicolas Sarkozy took in 2002 after his nomination as Interior Minister.

Dozens of policemen injured More than 60 police officers were injured after a second night of clashes between security forces and young rioters in the Paris suburb of Villiers-le-Bel.

The spectre of 2005 looms over Parisian suburbs The battles between youth and police in the Parisian suburb of Villiers-le-Bel are reminiscent of those in the autumn of 2005, when France faced three weeks of rioting.

No change in the ‘banlieues’ since 2005 After the 2005 riots in France’s low-income ‘banlieues’, the French government launched a national rescue plan. But today little has changed.

Fillon says rioters are 'criminals' During a visit to Villiers-le-Bel, French Prime Minister François Fillon said the recent clashes that have rocked the troubled suburb were "intolerable."

Images

AFP

People hold portraits of the two teenagers, who died two days ago after their motorbike collided with a police car, as they pay homage to them, 27 November 2007 at the site of the accident in Villiers-le-Bel, outside Paris.

AFP

People hold portraits of the two teenagers, who died two days ago after their motorbike collided with a police car, as they pay homage to them, 27 November 2007 at the site of the accident in Villiers-le-Bel, outside Paris.

  • Photos

      • AFP PHOTO MARTIN BUREAU

        Locals gather around the motorcycle driven by two teenagers (15- and 16-years-old) that crashed into a police car, 25 November 2007 in Villiers-le-Bel, outside Paris. The two were killed in the accident, sparking violence with young people burning rubbish bins and cars in reaction.

      • AFP PHOTO MARTIN BUREAU

        The police car that crashed into a motorcycle driven by the two teenagers, 25 November 2007 in Villiers-le-Bel.

      • AFP PHOTO MARTIN BUREAU

        Firemen try to extinguish a car set ablaze in reaction to the death of two young people, 25 November 2007 in Villiers-le-Bel, whose motorcycle crashed into a police car.

      • AFP PHOTO MARTIN BUREAU

        Firemen run past a car set ablaze in reaction to the death of two teenagers whose motorcycle crashed into a police car, 25 November 2007 in Villiers-le-Bel.

      • AFP PHOTO JEAN AYISSI

        Policemen check the identity of young people after cars were burned in reaction to the death of two teenagers, 25 November 2007 in Villiers-le-Bel.

      • The father of the older teenager (second from left) killed in the motorcycle accident waits for a press conference as the father of Moushin, (second from right) the younger, is comforted, in Villiers-le-Bel, 26 November 2007.

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