French towns impose curfews on children after youth violence
The southern towns of Limoges, Béziers and Nîmes now have night-time curfews with varying conditions on young people, as well as two communes in the greater Paris area.
The southern town of Limoges has had a curfew in place since the start of the school holidays on July 5th - children under the age of 13 are not allowed out between 11pm and 6am, unless they are accompanied by a parent or guardian. The curfew covers the neighbourhoods of Beaubreuil, Val de l'Aurence Sud et Nord, Les Coutures, Bellevue, Le Vigenal, La Bastide, les Portes-Ferrées and Le Sablard, plus the town centre.
Local authorities said it was intended to cut youth crime and anti-social behaviour.
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However, this does not appear to have had the desired effect and may have been among the triggers for
serious violence over the weekend
, in which masked rioters attacked police and cars on a highway.
The rioters, armed with iron bars and Molotov cocktails, descended on the RN141 highway and tried to block it during a battle with police, according to officials.
Limoges' right-wing mayor Emile Roger Lombertie,
told BFMTV
: "The results of the curfew so far are not good. We've had demonstrations by young people, but no one has been able to intercept and arrest them, so the curfew has been useless. If we don't have the police to enforce it, it's useless."
Other authorities say that it is working better for them.
The commune of Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, just outside Paris, has had an 11.30pm-6am curfew for under 16s in place since July 17th.
Socialist mayor Karim Bouamrane says that: "Mums and dads are saying 'thank you, we fully support this decision'.
"Unfortunately, many working-class and middle-class families no longer have the means to fulfil their educational ambitions. That's why public authorities need to support them."
Triel-sur-Seine, in the greater Paris Yvelines area, has also decided to bring in a curfew for under 18s, which independent mayor Cédric Aoun says will empower parents to "ask where their children are really going".
In the southern city of Bezièrs, the far-right mayor Robert Menard introduced a curfew for unaccompanied under 13s in 2024, and this summer has extended that to include children aged 15 and under in selected neighbourhoods of the town.
Bezièrs was
also hit by serious violence over the weekend
- an apartment fire turning into an ambush for police and fire crews, with around 50 young people launching fireworks and mortars at police and setting small fires in the Devèze neighbourhood.
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Local police say the violence is linked to drug gangs.
The south-west town of Nîmes, which has seen several shootings believed to be linked to drug gangs in recent weeks, plans to introduce a curfew from Monday evening.
The curfew will cover the neighbourhoods of Pissevin, Valdegour, Mas de Mingue, Vistre, Clos d'Orville and Chemin Bas and will ban under 16s from being out unaccompanied by a parent or guardian between the hours of 9pm and 6am. The initial curfew will last for 15 days, with the option to renew.
Curfews or similar measures can be imposed on a local level by mayors and town councils, although these measures can be challenged at the Conseil d'Etat if they are judged to be contrary to the French constitution or the rights and freedoms of individuals.
The Conseil d'Etat has the right to strike down local measures - as happened when various mayors tried to ban the full-body 'burkini' swimsuit on public beaches.
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