Curfew to be imposed on suburban Paris youth

A curfew will be put in place Wednesday night for minors in two northern Parisian suburbs, according to officials, after a youth was injured Tuesday and a teenager was killed at the weekend. The mayor of Gennevilliers, north of Paris, said the curfew would apply to certain parts of Gennevilliers and neighbouring Asnières-sur-Seine.

Oyp via Wikimedia Commons

Two groups of young people from neighbourhoods on either side of a street that separates Gennevilliers from Asnières have a long-standing feud that periodically erupts into violence.

Friday night the groups got into scuffles, and on Saturday night a 15-year-old died from stab wounds in the throat after an altercation.

After the death, riot police were deployed, and local authorities asked for students to stay out of neighbourhood schools on Monday “to avoid tensions”.

But tensions have not abated. A teenager from Asnières was in hospital Wednesday after being stabbed in the arm and back with a screwdriver Tuesday night at a metro station.

The curfew is expected to be put in place for Wednesday night, though the times and exact neighbourhoods affected will be determined by the mayors of each city.

The one-week curfew will last between 8pm and 6am, and will affect young people under 18-years-old in certain neighbourhoods, determined by local authorities.

"It is to protect the minors and to call parents to take all precautions," said Gennevilliers mayor Jacques Bourgoin.