Several French cities to impose curfew after unrest during cost-of-living protests

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced on Monday, 19 October, that curfews will be introduced in several cities across the country. Authorities are responding to rioting and looting that erupted during protests against the high cost of living over the weekend. The head of government has instructed prefects, the top state representatives in each department, to take the step, primarily to protect shops from looting.

The prime minister's office specified that a partial curfew will apply on the nights of Monday to Tuesday and Tuesday to Wednesday in Lille and three other northern cities. It will run from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Lecornu also did not rule out declaring a state of emergency in France "if necessary".

Scale of the damage

The French Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimates that more than 2,000 shops may have been affected by the unrest nationwide. Its head, Alain Di Crescenzo, told broadcaster RTL that about 1,500 such cases had been recorded by the evening of 18 October, with damage reaching hundreds of millions of euros. Trade Minister Serge Papin cited an even higher figure on Monday: "at least 3,000" affected shops.

Violence and attribution

Over the weekend, protests turned violent across France: shops were looted, and buildings and cars were set on fire. The most militant demonstrators attacked police officers, who responded with tear gas. According to the Interior Ministry, 997 police officers and other security personnel were injured, and 2,331 people were detained.

Lecornu repeated a claim made earlier by President Emmanuel Macron that the unrest is "organised chaos" for which "left-wing extremists and criminals" are responsible. He said there is evidence of an ultra-left movement trying to sow chaos ahead of the presidential election.

What comes next

The Yellow Vests movement has called on the French to take to the streets again on 24 October to protest against the cost of living. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said police will be on heightened alert on 24 and 25 October.