Amid Tight Security Measures.. A New Day of Student Mobilization in France

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Tens of thousands of high school students are preparing to protest across France on Tuesday, in a new day of mobilization under tight security measures in the face of a violent protest movement that threatens to extend to universities.

In a tense social climate six months before the presidential elections, students demanding more resources for their schools have received support from unions that have called on education workers to join them in the streets, in Paris and about thirty other cities.

Around two thousand police and gendarmes will be deployed to secure the planned demonstration in the capital in the afternoon, following the closure of high schools and gatherings that have been accompanied by vandalism and clashes with security forces.

The movement began on September 17 in the Paris region and gradually spread before igniting on Thursday in several French cities.

Despite the decrease in the number of incidents on Monday compared to last Friday, the last hours witnessed the injury of a 15-year-old boy in the city of Lens in northern France, where his hand was amputated after he grabbed a hand grenade during a demonstration.

Since the start of the movement, more than 5,000 people have been arrested, the vast majority of whom are minors, and 215 students have been injured according to the government. More than 700 injuries have been recorded among security forces, and about 100 injuries among education sector workers.

The Ministry of the Interior announced on Monday evening the opening of ten investigations by the General Inspectorate of the National Police, which is the oversight body for the police, since the beginning of the movement, and Amnesty International called on French authorities on Monday to "put an end to the excessive police repression recorded in recent days during student protests."

Anne Savinel-Paris from Amnesty International said, "The images and testimonies that have circulated widely over the past week raise serious concerns about the dangerous use of tear gas, batons, and police crowd control methods."