Riots, Paris

The Guardian today has a good article on the civil unrest in Paris in 2005, which occurred in a run-down suburb called Clichy Sous Bois.

Here's a photo of the areas affected:

The Guardian writes that

"the liberal left agonised as to why. Unemployment, lack of opportunity, police harrassment, and discrimination emerged as the dominant themes. Chirac subsequently acknowledged the "poison" of racial discrimination, saying it "saps the foundations of the republic", and announced a raft of measures aimed at improving the life chances of youths from disadvantaged suburbs, including 5,000 extra teachers and assistants, 10,000 scholarships, individual help with job-seeking and incentives for companies moving near to sink estates.

Not that any of these promises accomplished very much, according to Fize. "A bit of money got thrown at the problem," he said. "But this could happen again in France. The ashes are still smoldering. It just needs the spark. The political and economic systems have both failed these youths – in France, in Britain, but also in Spain, Greece. Even the Arab Spring reflects the same root problems."

It is chilling to remember that the interior minister of the time,Nicholas Sarkozy, like David Cameron now, called for "zero tolerance". Sarkozy also named the rioters "scum", and called for tighter immigration.