2024 social unrest in Martinique

Last updated

2024 social unrest in Martinique
DateSeptember 2024 – ongoing
Location
Caused by
  • High costs of living and food prices
  • Social, racial, and economic inequality
  • Curfews and restrictions on public protests by the Government of France
MethodsPeaceful demonstration, looting
StatusOngoing
Parties
  • Martinique civilians
  • Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources
Number
Thousands
Casualties
Death(s)1
Injuries14 (11 police, one civilian)

Since September 2024, there have been widespread protests and violent confrontations across the French Caribbean territory of Martinique. The unrest is caused by elevated costs of living, consequential bans on public protests placed by the central Government of France on several municipalities, and the deployment of elite riot police that had been banned from the territory for over 65 years due to their prior killing of several young demonstrators.

Contents

Background

In the years prior to 2024, Martinique has been the site of several widespread protests against inequality in racial and economic areas. Protests and civil unrest were especially prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic, where several civilians protested against COVID restrictions implemented by the French government in November 2021. These protests were launched in cooperation with neighboring Guadeloupe labor unions against requirements from France made in mid-September 2020 to have a pass certifying COVID-19 vaccination for healthcare workers in order to have access to long-distance travel, restaurants, sports arenas, and other public venues, at penalty of suspension. The protests also expressed anger at widespread racial and economic inequality, and demanded general salary increases, increased teacher hiring, and greater benefits for unemployment. In response to the protests, the French government released a statement saying that, “If the law of the Republic must apply in all French regions, and therefore in Guadeloupe and Martinique, the way it is applied must be adapted to the sanitary and social situation of these territories.” [1]

The protests resulted in several shots being fired at French security forces, as well as several nearby journalists. Multiple police officers were injured, resulting in ten arrests. French spokesman Gabriel Attal denounced violence at the protests, calling it “unacceptable”. In addition to the violence, several roadblocks were set up by protesters, while cars were set on fire and looting occurred in many municipalities, requiring the use of stun grenades and tear gas to disperse protesters. [1]

Social unrest

Protests began to spread across the Martinique in September 2024 in response to high costs of living and social, racial, and economic inequality. [2] This included statistics released by the Insee indicated that residents of Martinique paid about 30% to 42% more for food relative to mainland French residents, which was viewed by many demonstrators and civil rights leaders as emblematic of lingering historical racial inequality in the majority-Black French territory. [3] [4] The Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources supported the demonstrations as part of an ongoing campaign to make food affordable and equitable in price for Martinique citizens. [5]

This culminated in gunfire from protesters that injured at least fourteen people, including eleven police officers and at least one citizen, and also resulted in several burned cars, fire-gutted buildings, and looted stores. In response, police began to deploy tear gas against small protests. [2] [4]

As a reaction to the unrest, the French government implemented a ban on protests and large gatherings in Ducos, Fort-de-France, Le Robert, and Le Lamentin, and implemented a curfew in order "to put an end to the violence and damage committed at gatherings, as well as to the numerous obstacles to daily life and freedom of movement that penalize the entire population, particularly at weekends.” The legal restrictions resulted in further resentment from protesters, and resulted in larger and even more widespread protests occurring across the territory on 21 September, with videos showing thousands of peaceful protesters waving flags and banging on drums while marching on highways. [6] [7]

In response to the defiance, the French government deployed the Companies for Republican Security to the island, an elite riot police unit that had been banned from the territory for over 65 years due to their violent and disproportionately forceful suppression of demonstrations that killed several young protesters in December 1959. [6]

On 10 October, in one of the deadliest days of the riots, at least one person was killed when demonstrators set fire to a police station, cars and road barricades as they clashed with officers. [8]

Responses

Martinique Socialist Party representative Béatrice Bellay harshly denounced the decision to deploy the Companies for Republican Security to the island, stating that: “Martinique is not in a civil war, it is a social war” that required “open and transparent dialogue” between demonstrators and government. She further clarified that: “This measure ... only serves to aggravate tensions and distract attention from the legitimate demands of the people of Martinique.” [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protests of 1968</span> Worldwide escalation of social conflicts

The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, which were predominantly characterized by the rise of left-wing politics, anti-war sentiment, civil rights urgency, youth counterculture within the silent and baby boomer generations, and popular rebellions against military states and bureaucracies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 youth protests in France</span>

Nationwide protests occurred in France from February to April 2006 in opposition to a measure set to deregulate labour. Young people were the primary participants in the protests as the bill would have directly affected their future jobs in a way that they considered negative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 French Caribbean general strikes</span> Protests

The 2009 French Caribbean general strikes began in the French overseas region of Guadeloupe on 20 January 2009, and spread to neighbouring Martinique on 5 February 2009. Both islands are located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean. The general strikes began over the cost of living, the prices of basic commodities, including fuel and food, and demands for an increase in the monthly salaries of low income workers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States racial unrest (2020–2023)</span> State of unrest in the United States following the murder of Georgle Floyd

A wave of civil unrest in the United States, initially triggered by the murder of George Floyd during his arrest by Minneapolis police officers on May 25, 2020, led to protests and riots against systemic racism in the United States, including police brutality and other forms of violence. Since the initial national wave and peak ended towards the end of 2020, numerous other incidents of police violence have drawn continued attention and lower intensity unrest in various parts of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019–2020 Guinean protests</span> Protests against President Alpha Condé

The 2019–2020 Guinean protests, or the Front National pour la Défense de la Constitution (FNDC), were a series of violent protests and mass civil unrest around Guinea against the rule of Alpha Condé that first broke out on 14 October 2019 against constitutional changes. More than 800 were killed in violent clashes and political scenes yet ethnic clashes and this spawned even further rhetoric, while the protesters still resisted despite the harsh repression. After the 2020 Guinean presidential election, widespread unrest took place, leading to the deaths of 27 protesters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Pakistani protests</span> Series of protests and strikes in Pakistan

The 2021 Pakistani protests were a series of protests and strikes in Pakistan from 11 to 20 April 2021. Mass protests first erupted after a series of calls for nationwide rallies and picketing against the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan and his cabinet, orchestrated by banned far-right party Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) The primary motive was against France after a supposed blasphemous caricature was published there and the events surrounding the murder of Samuel Paty, a French middle school teacher. The demonstrators demanded a boycott of French goods and the expulsion of the French ambassador.

The 2002–2003 Chinese protest movement included general strikes, occupations, strike actions, riots, wildcat strikes and picketing in China’s poorer areas against the division between rich and poor, unemployment, poverty, poor living standards and inequality. Mass protests began as early as January–February 2002, when a tide of protests swept Changping and Tibet. People from all ages, cultures and areas nationwide all came out onto the streets, protesting the government's closures of factories, corruption, low wages and unemployment among young and old people and many more deep issues. Labour protests swept Sichuan, Tibet, Shenyang and Tianjin. The demonstrators were protesting the government crackdown on protests in Liaoyang in 2002, when 30,000 protesters took to the streets protesting the closure of a brick factory for three months; it was the biggest labour uprising since 1976. Protester tactics were nonviolent boycotts, civil disobedience and marches, while the police's tactics were tear gas, detention and live ammunition. In 2004 in Sichuan, mass protests against the treatment of workers and civilians in slums occurred by 25,000 pensioners and students. One was killed in a crackdown on public protests in October 2004 there. In the early months of 2003, labour unrest and wildcat strikes rocked Shenyang by workers in sit-ins against unemployment and poverty. Police would arrest, detain and fire on demonstrators. The protests led to the death of one demonstrator.

The 2009 Gabonese protests was rioting and popular disturbances with immediate unrest and violent opposition-led street demonstrations and growing civil disobedience movement across Port Gentil and Libreville in Gabon after the immediate results of the 2009 Gabonese presidential election was announced. Two were left dead amid the unrest, clashes and fighting between the rival forces. French interference in the actions sparked national outrage, one of the causes if the immediate unrest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Paraguayan protests</span> Protest

The 2021 Paraguayan protests were a series of mass protests and violent demonstrations against the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Paraguay during March 2021, calling for the resignation of Mario Abdo Benítez and his entire cabinet. The demonstrations left hundreds injured and many critically wounded after citizen protests and looting across the country. It resulted in the resignation of health minister Julio Mazzoleni.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aftermath of the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul</span> Aftermath of local civil unrest following murder of an unarmed black man

The aftermath of the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul describes the result of civil disorder between May 26 and June 7, 2020, in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Protests began as a response to the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man on May 25, after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds as three other officers assisted during an arrest. The incident was captured on a bystander's video and it drew public outrage as video quickly circulated in the news media by the following day.

A series of protests in Eswatini against the absolute monarchy and for democratisation began in late June 2021. Starting as a peaceful protest on 20 June, they escalated after 25 June into violence and looting over the weekend when the government took a hardline stance against the demonstrations and prohibited the delivery of petitions. Lower-level unrest and protests continued until summer 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 South African unrest</span> Riots after Jacob Zumas imprisonment, 9 to 18 July 2021

The 2021 South African unrest, also known as the July 2021 riots, the Zuma unrest or Zuma riots, was a wave of civil unrest that occurred in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces from 9 to 18 July 2021, sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma for contempt of court. Resulting protests against the incarceration triggered wider rioting and looting, much of it said to be undertaken by people not in support of Zuma and fuelled by job layoffs and economic inequality worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic policies. The unrest began in the province of KwaZulu-Natal on the evening of 9 July, and spread to the province of Gauteng on the evening of 11 July, and was the worst violence that South Africa had experienced since the end of Apartheid.

The 2021–2022 French West Indies unrest is a social conflict that took place from November 17, 2021 until March 31, 2022 in the French West Indies, particularly in Guadeloupe and Martinique. Unrest has also been reported in other Overseas Territories like Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

Riots occurred in several Swedish cities in April 2022, primarily against police who were stationed to protect events planned by Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan. The motivation for the violence was ostensibly Paludan's plan to burn a Quran; however, the police suspect that the event was used by criminal groups to target police. Two-thirds of those injured were police officers.

Events in the year 2023 in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nahel Merzouk riots</span> June–July 2023 riots in France

A series of riots in France began on 27 June 2023 following the fatal shooting of Nahel Merzouk in an encounter with two police officers in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris. Residents started a protest outside the police headquarters on the 27 June, which later escalated into rioting as demonstrators set cars alight, destroyed bus stops, and shot fireworks at police. In Viry-Châtillon, a town just south of Paris with a history of violence towards police, a group of teenagers set a bus ablaze.

Events in the year 2024 in France.

In May 2024, protests and riots broke out in New Caledonia, a sui generis collectivity of overseas France in the Pacific Ocean. The violent protests have led to at least 13 deaths, the declaration of a state of emergency on 16 May, deployment of the French army, and the block of the social network TikTok.

References

  1. 1 2 "Shots fired at police, journalists in Martinique COVID riots". AP News. 26 November 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Gunfire injures 6 police officers in Martinique during protests over living costs". AP News. 17 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  3. "En 2022, les prix restent plus élevés dans les DOM qu'en France métropolitaine, en particulier pour les produits alimentaires" [In 2022, prices remain higher in the DOMs than in mainland France, particularly for food products]. Insee. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  4. 1 2 Duncan, Natricia (19 September 2024). "Violent protests erupt in Martinique over high cost of living with 14 injured". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  5. "Protests over rising costs of living turn violent in French Caribbean island of Martinique". France 24. 19 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 "Long-forbidden French anti-riot force sent to Martinique as thousands defy bans on protests". AP News. 22 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  7. "France sends forbidden anti-riot force to Martinique as thousands defy protest ban". www.euronews.com. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  8. The Associated Press. "One killed as protests over high cost of living in Martinique turn violent". ABC News. Retrieved 10 October 2024.