France: Battle of Amiens pre-empts François Hollande

Months of tension between police and young people in the northern French city of Amiens exploded into violence late on Monday and continued last night.

Dozens of youths clashed with officers in riot gear, leaving 16 policemen injured and a primary school damaged by fire and a sports centre burned down. Three drivers were also dragged from their cars.

At the height of the confrontation, 150 officers – both local and state riot police – skirmished with young men who launched fireworks at them and fired buckshot in the city about 75 miles north of Paris. There were no arrests.

“The confrontations were very, very violent,” mayor Gilles Dumailly said. He claimed tensions had been building for months between police and poor residents, whom he described as “people who are in some difficulty”.

Socialist president François Hollande dispatched interior minister Manuel Valls – a law and order hardliner – to the city, where the two nights of violence were apparently sparked by police spot checks.

Unemployment is higher in northern France (12 per cent against 10 per cent nationally), with youth unemployment being particularly high (23.3 per cent for those aged 15-24).

Less than two weeks ago, the French government declared Amiens among 15 areas in special need of increased expenditure and security.

The eruption of violence shows how little relations have changed between police and youths in France’s housing schemes since nationwide riots in 2005 raged for nearly a month, leaving entire districts in flames in the suburbs.

Summer riots are not so uncommon in France, often in the hot nights of August, when France’s rich and middle classes head off for long holidays but the poor and immigrant families are left at home.

Alain Bauer, a professor of criminology, said circumstances had only worsened since 2005. And he said it was hard to predict what would happen after the Amiens violence, which he described as “a culmination of bitterness and tension”.

He said: “These are small events that stand apart unless they take on greater importance. It will take an in-depth reaction [from government], responding to both criminal and social problems.”

The riots follow a pattern – police target a youth doing something suspicious; the suspect, most often an immigrant, attempts to flee and dies or gets seriously injured in the incident. The neighbourhood rises up in anger and young people head out to burn cars, police stations or any building representing authority. Police often respond in force with tear gas, further angering the locals.

Earlier this month, Amiens was among 15 areas declared the most troubled in France, and the government pledged more help.

“Security is not just a priority but an obligation,” Mr Hollande said yesterday at a memorial for two gendarmes killed in June. “We owe it to the population, we owe it to the security forces.”

He mentioned the violence in Amiens, as well as unrest in Toulouse, southern France, where rival groups in two schemes have been battling for days.

The violence marked the first major unrest under Mr Hollande’s regime – he only took office in May.