Mayor Robert Ménard said he made the decision in response to “the increasing number of minors left to fend for themselves at night” and an increase in “urban violence”.
He did not provide specific figures. He did say that delinquency among young people under the age of 13 is “a blind spot” in the statistics because it is not monitored by the justice system. Left-wing associations and unions are already planning to demonstrate today “against the extreme right-wing ideas in Béziers”.
According to figures from the French Ministry of the Interior, young people under the age of 13 last year represented just 2 percent of all suspects of attacks on other people (by comparison, the 30 to 44 age group accounted for 36 percent) and 1 percent of all perpetrators of attacks on other people. violent thefts (the age category 18 to 29 years accounted for 44 percent).
In 2018, the Council of State reversed a similar decision by Mayor Ménard from 2014. The statement of reasons pointed out the lack of “precise elements that could support the existence of particular risks relating to minors under the age of 13”.
Tags: Farright mayor southern France imposes curfew children age
