LES MUREAUX, France: Presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron thinks he has the magic tool for liberating France’s blighted suburbs from poverty, violence and discrimination: turn jobless youth and drug dealers into legitimate entrepreneurs.
The hurdles are high. Disillusioned residents of housing projects in towns like Les Mureaux, west of Paris, are deeply sceptical of campaign promises and the political elite. French presidents have tried for decades to fix the suburbs, and repeatedly failed.
But that’s not deterring Macron, increasingly labelled by polls as the front-runner in France’s two-round April 23-May 7 election. He played with schoolchildren and huddled with community activists this week in Les Mureaux, where the projects bustle with people of Arab and African origin, joblessness is high and voter turnout low.
“Those who live ... where social and economic difficulties or migration are concentrated do not receive the same chances as elsewhere to succeed,” Macron said, encouraging young residents to build their own businesses instead of aspiring to become sports stars.
Macron’s visit came as unrest has shaken suburban Paris in recent weeks, aggravated by the alleged rape of a young black man with a police baton.
Some 50 young people were put in custody Tuesday in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, for allegedly throwing stones at police cars, setting fires and lobbing smoke bombs into a school. The reason for the violence was not clear, but the alleged rape has sparked many angry protests that have turned violent.
Most were released without charges on Wednesday night. Eight minors were scheduled to appear before a juvenile court judge Thursday in the nearby town of Bobigny on charges of violence, “armed gathering” and “rebellion.”
