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 The French West Indies or French Antilles (, ; ) are the parts of France located in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: * The two overseas departments of: ** Guadeloupe, including the islands of Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Les Saintes, Ma ...

, particularly in

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

and

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

. Unrest has also been reported in other

Overseas Territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Pierre and Miquelon ( ), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, located near the Canada, Canadian prov ...

. Following the French government's decision to introduce compulsory vaccination for health care workers and the health pass in several public places, acts of vandalism, a general strike, and demonstrations began, first in Guadeloupe and then in Martinique. On March 31, 2022, the state of health emergency ends in the

History

2021

On November 19, the prefect of Guadeloupe instituted a curfew from 6:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. for security reasons. The authorities announced the closure of schools and prefectural services on November 22. The same day, the revolt spread to Martinique. On November 26, the Minister for Overseas France,

Sébastien Lecornu Sébastien Lecornu (; born 11 June 1986) is a French politician who has served as Minister of the Armed Forces in the governments of successive Prime Ministers Élisabeth Borne, Gabriel Attal, Michel Barnier and François BayrouLeigh Thomas and ...

, announced the postponement of the vaccination requirement until December 31 and said he was ready to "talk about the autonomy of Guadeloupe" Gunfire, mortar fire, flaming barricades, tear gas: in the streets of the small town of Lamentin to the east of Fort-de-France, en Martinique, the aftermath of the evacuation of the Mahault roundabout looked like a "small urban war" on the night from 1 to 2 December. In December 2021, candidates for the

2022 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 10 and 24 April 2022. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a Two-round system, runoff was held, in which Emmanuel Macron defeated Marine Le Pen and was re-elected as President of France. ...

Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician of the far-right National Rally, National Rally party (RN). She served as the party's president from 2011 to 2021, and ran for the French presidency in ...

and

Jean-Luc Mélenchon Jean-Luc Antoine Pierre Mélenchon (; born 19 August 1951) is a French politician who has been the ''de facto'' leader of La France Insoumise (LFI) since it was established in 2016. He was the Deputy (France), deputy in the National Assembly ( ...

visited

Mayotte Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regions of France, department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the Overseas departm ...

and

. On December 24, protesters briefly invaded the

Regional Council of Guadeloupe The Regional Council of Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, ...

and remained there overnight.

2022

On January 3, a group of organizations opposed to the health pass and mandatory vaccination organized a "snail operation" by car, which led to traffic jams. On January 4, a series of small roadblocks were set up and fires started in the municipality of Sainte-Rose. The same day, trade unionists from the UTS-UGTG blocked the administrative building of the University Hospital of

Pointe-à-Pitre Pointe-à-Pitre (; , , or simply , ) is the second most populous commune of Guadeloupe (after Les Abymes). Guadeloupe is an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in the Lesser Antilles, of which it is a ''Subprefectu ...

and sequestered the staff for several hours. On January 9, the deputy of

Saint-Pierre and Miquelon Saint Pierre and Miquelon ( ), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, located near the Canadian province of ...

Stéphane Claireaux Stéphane Claireaux (born 23 June 1964) is a French politician. He has been Member of Parliament for Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon's 1st constituency since 2014, and served until 2022. Formerly of the Radical Movement, he has been a member of the r ...

, was attacked by protesters. President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

reacted by denouncing the attack as "intolerable" and "unacceptable". On January 10, roadblocks were set up by demonstrators and stones were thrown at the police in

Basse-Terre Basse-Terre (, ; ; ) is a communes of the Guadeloupe department, commune in the France, French overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is also the ''prefectures in France, pref ...

. On January 11, protesters demonstrated outside

university hospital and clashed with police. On January 20, rioters injured a police officer with live ammunition on the sidelines of unauthorized demonstrations. The administrative building of the Basse-Terre hospital was invaded by about forty people.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2021-2022 social unrest in the French West Indies COVID-19 pandemic in France 2021 protests 2021 riots 2021 in French politics 2022 in French politics 2022 protests 2022 riots Epidemic riots Political riots in France Rebellions in France History of the French West Indies Protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic 2020s political riots General strikes in France General strikes in North America 2021 in Guadeloupe 2022 in Guadeloupe 2020s in Martinique 2020s in Saint Pierre and Miquelon

History

2021

2022

See also

References