The police and firefighters called in to intervene in immigrant neighborhoods now plagued by violence are said to have received new instructions.
The executive seems more than ever to fear the problems arising in the “lost territories of the Republic”. While Interior Minister Christophe Castaner or spokesperson Sibeth Ndiaye are trying to minimize the extent of the violence that has occurred in recent days, the police and firefighters who have to intervene to stop fires in these neighborhoods have been instructed to “let burn” to avoid the ambushes, reported William Molinié, journalist at the police-justice service of LCI and TF1.
“In the social housing suburbs and in Paris, the police who are escorting the firefighters responding to fires are now asked to let it burn as long as there is no danger of spreading, so as not to be exposed to the risk of ambush,” he wrote.
The information echoes what regional daily Le Parisien had already reported : on the night of Wednesday, April 22 to Thursday, April 23, Île-de-France police received a similar instruction from the Paris police headquarters .
“Following recent phenomena of urban violence throughout the Paris region, some caution should be taken into account on the part of the workforce of public roads,” they were asked. And the police hierarchy added: “It is necessary to avoid any contact with the disturbers on interventions which do not represent a danger or the spread of fire in order to avoid having injured officials. Reasonable and reasoned use should be made of collective armaments.”
Two nights of urban riots in the Hauts-de-Seine commune, spread over part of the Paris immigrant suburbs. According to Yves Lefebvre, general secretary of the union SGP Police unit FO, there are fears of a generalization of violence.
“Without wanting to stigmatize the Muslim community, we are going to jump into Ramadan with both feet and it will be even more complicated. Besides that, the weather is not helping either. The weather is nice in the Paris region,” he said.
One comment
The French firemen and other first responders are in an impossible position regarding violence directed against them in the country’s many no-go zones. The authorities are fearful of the country’s Muslims, and fear a confrontation that could lead to generalized violence (“intifada”) throughout the country. As long as French firefighters require police escorts, the chances of an incident escalating into generalized violence. And in such a case, the requirement to use deadly force would be an ever-present concern, and perhaps an inevitability. But the authorities want to put off the possibility as long as possible So the decision discussed here kicks the can down the road for a little while longer.
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