France imposes curfew on minors in 'cutthroat' Guadeloupe city
The Peninsula
Pointe Pitre: France on Thursday ordered a two month nighttime curfew for minors in a Guadeloupe city after a surge in youth violence in the oversea...
Pointe-à-Pitre: France on Thursday ordered a two-month nighttime curfew for minors in a Guadeloupe city after a surge in youth violence in the overseas territory.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced the 8.00 pm curfew in the economic capital of Pointe-a-Pitre as part of efforts to tackle crime on the Caribbean island, one of France's many overseas territories spanning the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans.
Located more than 7,000 kilometres (4,350 miles) from mainland France, Guadeloupe has six times more homicides and 20 times more armed robberies than the national average, according to local authorities.
And youth are increasingly involved, said Pointe-a-Pitre mayor Harry Durimel, who described the city as "cutthroat" at the end of March.
"Minors previously made up 12 percent of those who committed crimes, but now they account for 38 percent," Durimel said.
