The Baku Initiative Group (BIG) has issued a statement regarding the ongoing protests in France.

Operativ Media presents the statement:

“The Baku Initiative Group (BIG) is monitoring with deep concern the ongoing nationwide mobilization of high school students and youth in France, as well as reports of protesters sustaining severe injuries, numerous detentions, and the use of dangerous riot control agents.

The movement, which began in the city of Créteil and subsequently spread across France, initially emerged amid grievances directly linked to the right to quality education—such as shortages of teachers and other educational staff, dilapidated school infrastructure, excessive workloads, and dissatisfaction with certain aspects of the university admission system. These grievances later evolved into a nationwide youth movement involving high school and university students, teachers, parents, and trade unions.

The scale of these events demands special attention. As of October 8, the French Minister of the Interior reported that more than 6,600 people had been detained, while 215 students and 89 educational staff had been injured.

Particularly concerning are the cases of minors sustaining severe injuries. In the city of Lens, a 15-year-old student lost his hand when a stun grenade used during the protests exploded.

BIG believes that the right to education, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, as well as the protection of children and youth from unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, are universal principles. These principles must be respected without selective approaches or double standards.

Access to quality education is also one of the main pillars of a genuine decolonization process. Education makes it possible to eliminate structural inequalities, preserve identity, and build sustainable and self-sufficient institutions.

BIG calls on the French authorities to ensure that law enforcement measures during demonstrations are carried out in strict accordance with the principles of necessity, proportionality, and accountability; to guarantee the rights of minors and youth to peacefully express their views and assemble; to ensure effective investigation of cases resulting in severe injuries; and to engage in substantive dialogue with students, teachers, and their representative organizations.

France claims to defend the protection of human rights, democratic freedoms, and human dignity as fundamental principles of its domestic and foreign policy. The consistent application of these principles must, first and foremost, begin at home. Human rights cannot be protected selectively, and youth trying to make their voices heard must be treated primarily as rights-holders, not as a security issue.

The Baku Initiative Group will continue to closely monitor the development of events and calls for dialogue, restraint, and full respect for fundamental rights.