On Friday, April 20th, the French capital was the scene of street violence from the Afghan community. While the trouble went unnoticed by the mainstream press, the nation’s Right condemned the wilful blindness of the national media.
The violence was sparked by a sordid episode of murder and arson that occurred on April 7th in the Rue de Charonne, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. According to the initial investigation, Afghan refugees settling scores led to the deaths of three men. One man allegedly shot dead his two guests in the flat he was renting. He then tried to erase the traces of his crime by soaking his home with fuel before setting fire to it. He is said to have died after throwing himself out of a window to escape the flames.
The tenant of the flat was found by the police with several identity documents on him, and four telephones, prompting suspicion as to the true nature of his occupation. Another victim was also an Afghan refugee. The third has not yet been identified.
A rally in tribute to the victims was organised by the Afghan community on Saturday, April 20th in eastern Paris. The atmosphere was particularly tense, and the demonstration degenerated into violence and destruction. Aurélien Véron, a right-wing Parisian politician close to Rachida Dati, wondered aloud about the exact causes of the anger of the Afghans who took to the streets. On X he denounces the “Kabul in Paris” outburst.
But an embarrassed silence surrounds these events. On Monday, April 22nd, it was still difficult to find any trace of the demonstration in the press, apart from videos of individuals posted on social media and relayed by right-wing political figures.
Jordan Bardella, head of the Rassemblement National party in the forthcoming European elections, expressed his indignation on X by relaying one of these videos: “I’m fed up with our country becoming the doormat of the world—the country where people can get away with anything with total impunity,” he declared.
His rival Marion Maréchal of the Reconquête party deplored the media’s silence on the Afghan demonstration, and called on the rioters to “go home, to Afghanistan.”
Only the right-wing news channel CNews mentioned the events and, through journalist Véronique Jacquier, denounced a “logic of street conquest” thriving on the failings of the state.
The police had to intervene to restore calm, and four people were arrested.
To date, the exact motives for the crimes of April 7th are still unknown.
