France detains 11,650 students as 70,000 officers deployed

The French government has ordered the deployment of 70,000 police officers to manage the ongoing student protests. By October 14, authorities had placed 7,950 people in police custody since the demonstrations began in September. An additional 2,700 individuals were taken into custody after the October 17 protests. Police made another 1,000 arrests on October 25. The total number of people held in custody has reached 11,650. Eighty-five percent of those detained are minors.

The scale of the police response has led observers to describe this as one of the most heavily repressed protest movements of the current century. The government cites violent unrest, including smashed shop windows and fires, to justify its securitized approach. This narrative allows officials to present themselves as defenders of public order while deflecting scrutiny from their handling of the crisis. The state has accused the far left of attempting to bring down the republic. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has urged the left to choose a side, framing the choice as between the republic, represented by police, and the rioters.

Students and families have cited deteriorating infrastructure and funding cuts as the primary drivers of the unrest. In Acoua on the island of Mayotte, Cite du Nord secondary school was blockaded on August 31. The school was built for 900 pupils but currently accommodates 2,300 students. Classrooms are cramped and poorly ventilated, with frequent water supply failures and unsanitary toilets. In Sevran, a suburb of Paris, Blaise-Cendrars secondary school has reported water leaks, mold, and missing furniture since 2024. At Marcelin-Berthelot secondary school in Pantin, windows no longer open, leaving classrooms without ventilation during heatwaves that can reach 40C.

The government’s financial support for education has declined sharply. Lucas Chancel, a French economist, states that government spending per student has dropped by 20 percent since 2017. The education ministry reported that 20.2 million teaching hours were not delivered in state secondary schools during the 2024-25 academic year. Fifteen million of those missing hours were due to absent teachers who were not replaced. This represents nearly one in ten scheduled teaching hours. Poverty rates in France are the highest since the 1990s, with 9.8 million people living below the official poverty line. Oxfam reports that 53 French billionaires own as much wealth as nearly half of the population.

President Emmanuel Macron met with 20 students on Friday and promised to reform the university entrance platform. He did not address the students’ key demands regarding funding and infrastructure. Macron stated he understood the students but expressed support for police officers in his public address. The government has pledged to ban protests and is waiting for the movement to weaken. The strategy aims to exhaust the protesters through fear and discrediting unrest. The government faces a political challenge as the far right leverages the chaos to call for stricter citizenship laws, offering voters a choice between those who fueled their anger and those turning it into racial hatred.