Trump blames Islam for France protests over school funding

Paris: US President Donald Trump has blamed mass migration and Islam for the student-led protests sweeping France, despite demonstrators demanding better funding and improved conditions in schools.

“What’s happening in France is nothing less than out-of-control mass migration. This isn’t about schools, this is about Islam wanting to take over a once great country,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

However, none of the demands raised by the protesters so far relate to religion or migration. Students are calling for absent teachers to be replaced, improved school buildings, longer lunch breaks and changes to the length of the school day.

The protests began at a high school in the Paris region in late September and have since spread to cities including Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux and Nantes. The movement has attracted support from parents and teachers, particularly in poorer areas where schools face staff shortages, overcrowded classrooms and deteriorating facilities.

More than 250,000 people took part in nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday, October 6, according to France’s Interior Ministry. Around 56,000 protesters marched in Paris, where police fired tear gas and clashed with small groups after a largely peaceful demonstration. Nearly 500 people were detained.

The police response, particularly against minors, has drawn criticism from students, parents, teachers and rights groups, including Amnesty International. Officials said more than 6,000 people had been arrested since the protests began, most of them under 18.

A 15-year-old boy lost a hand on Monday in an incident involving a police grenade, further intensifying criticism of the authorities’ handling of the unrest.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez defended the police action as proportionate in “almost all cases” and said 715 police officers had been injured. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu rejected allegations of racism in the police response, describing them as a “lie”, while condemning what he called “ultra-violence” near schools.

At the same time, Lecornu said the government needed to listen to the students. The government has suspended high school classes for the remainder of the week, according to Al Jazeera.

The protests have emerged as an early political flashpoint ahead of next year’s presidential election, amid wider public anger over government spending, poverty and inequality. Rising fuel prices linked to the war in Iran have added to the discontent.

Some student groups have called for further demonstrations on Thursday.