The prefect of Guadeloupe announced on Monday the curfew for minors in seven sectors of the island to “limit youth delinquency” due to “urban violence” since September 18.
“Given the urban violence committed since September 18,” this measure, in effect from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time, applies in “the Boucan and Bébel sectors in Sainte-Rose; the Poucet and Mare-Gaillard neighborhoods in Gosier; the Lauricisque and Changy neighborhoods in Pointe-à-Pitre; the Boisripeaux neighborhood in Abymes” from Monday evening, Prefect Xavier Lefort detailed in a press release.
The prefectural decree mentions “barricades, roadblocks, and the burning of radars”. In addition, “during this violence, the internal security forces were victims of stone throwing and Molotov cocktails”, according to the prefecture.
This is particularly the case in the Boucan area of Sainte-Rose, where several stores were looted during the night from Sunday to Monday by “gangs of young people, hooded, impossible to identify”, we learned from a source in the gendarmerie. This sector of Guadeloupe had experienced the largest and longest blockade during the riots of 2021, in particular against health measures linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Since the start of this urban violence, the individuals arrested have mainly been minors,” including one aged 12 and two aged 16 and 17, according to the prefecture.
Minors must be accompanied by their parents or a person with parental authority to go out during the curfew, the prefecture added.
According to concordant sources, no claim surrounds this urban violence. Less than 200 kilometers to the south, the island of Martinique is experiencing similar scenes but in a context of mobilization against the high cost of living.
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