Fears that the protests will spread to Europe: a curfew in France and global travel warnings

Paris - Ofoq News - Several French cities announced a partial curfew on Monday evening, fearing a renewal of the riots that the country witnessed over the weekend, which continued yesterday on a smaller scale.

The imposition of these restrictions came hours after Prime Minister Sébastien Le Corbusier announced that he had ordered a review of the imposition of “local and limited” restrictions, and temporarily rejected calls for more stringent measures, such as declaring a state of emergency, which might require sending the army to impose order on the streets.

As part of the restrictions, a complete curfew will be imposed on the movement of residents of all ages in Paris's Place de la République, one of the symbols of the capital located in its heart, which has also become one of the most intense hotspots of rioting and looting over the past two days, as well as in the city's Le Halle district.

The curfew in these areas will start from 11:00 pm (local time) until 6:00 am tomorrow. In addition, demonstrations were banned in several areas of the city, as the ban began at 8:00 pm and will continue until 6:00 am.

At the same time, in several cities in northern France - Lille, Douai, Etienne and Danan - a partial curfew restricted to minors has been imposed, and will run from 8:00 pm until 6:00 am.

The city of Nice, in southern France, imposed a partial curfew on minors between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., and the city of Lyon announced a nightly ban on demonstrations and marches. A similar ban on gatherings and demonstrations was also announced in Marseille.

Although there have been no reports of new looting or rioting as of this evening, tensions in France remain high after French police arrested another 350 people last night, between Sunday and Saturday, some on charges of looting and others on other charges.

This brings the number of those arrested to more than 2,500 people since the beginning of the current wave of riots at the end of the weekend, a wave that also resulted in the injury of nearly 1,000 members of the security forces, in addition to many demonstrators and rioters. The Prime Minister had indicated to Cornu that partial curfew measures would be taken in cities, and while speaking to reporters, he said that his government was “fully determined to restore public order.” While he did not rule out declaring a state of emergency - as some elements on the French right have called for - he added that he believes at this stage that a partial and targeted curfew is “more appropriate” for the current situation.

In the midst of these events, there is concern about the repercussions of the riots in France on its economy and tourism sector, after China this evening joined the list of countries that warned their citizens against traveling to France.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on citizens to be cautious of potential risks, take the necessary precautions to preserve their personal safety, and avoid traveling to areas witnessing demonstrations.

Thus, China joins a number of European and global countries that have warned their citizens against traveling to protest areas, although they did not explicitly call for travel to France, and called on them to take the necessary precautions. These countries include Italy, which also witnessed riots and looting in recent days, and Germany, which indicated the possibility of riots in the coming days, in addition to the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway. Malaysia also called on its citizens to consider postponing their arrival in France until the situation there improves.

These events are considered the worst that France has witnessed in recent years, and they erupted after massive protests that took place on Saturday afternoon against the high cost of living and the deterioration of public services, in which hundreds of thousands of people participated.

Far-right elements in France and the world are now pointing the finger at the far-left led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who allegedly sparked the violence as a show of force before the presidential elections scheduled for next year.

According to the latest update from the authorities, more than 2,500 people were arrested in the riots, and 997 members of the security forces were injured, seven of them seriously. Authorities estimate that at least 3,000 businesses across the country have been affected, and that the value of the damage is estimated at hundreds of millions of euros.

Saturday's protests, which preceded the day of the disaster, included high school and university students, trade unions, and members of the "yellow vest" movement that emerged in 2018 to protest President Emmanuel Macron's economic policies. Many believe that Saturday's protests are an extension of the student protests that began last month in schools in poor suburbs north of Paris, protesting the shortage of teachers and poor educational conditions. These protests also witnessed a series of violent incidents that have since spread to other European countries, including Belgium.

Meanwhile, the exchange of accusations continues between the leader of the extreme left, Mélenchon, and Prime Minister Le Corbusier, who accuses the people of “invincible France” of fueling violence, in what he described as an attempt to control public opinion and “inflame” the situation before the elections, the first round of which will be held in April. Le Corbusier warned this afternoon that intelligence sources had informed his government that far-left organizations would seek to disrupt the elections, saying: “We have a far-left movement that seeks to cause chaos, such chaos in the country, that this will continue until the presidential elections. I think intelligence sources made this very clear to us this morning.”