© Marc Susini/YouTube
At least four people, including a pregnant woman, were injured in a
violent brawl between locals and "foreigners," presumably from North Africa, on the island of Corsica, French media reports. Some
100 police officers had to be deployed to calm the situation. The brawl broke out in the Sisco commune of France's Haute-Corse department on Saturday evening, France 3 Corsica
reported.
© twitter
France 3 Corsica cited local witnesses who claimed that a
spat began when some tourists took a picture of a group of ten North Africans, including a pregnant woman and children, who were sitting on a beach. The North Africans made it clear that t
hey didn't want to be photographed, but then a group of Corsicans arrived and also started
a discussion that escalated into a confrontation. The paper reported that
three vehicles belonging to young people of North African origin had been burned in the encounter.
Some 40 Corsicans attacked the members of two Moroccan families that were living on the island, according to BFMTV. Stones and bottles were reportedly thrown at the Moroccans and three of their vehicles were burned, the channel said. The cause of the brawl has yet to be determined, French media said.
Comment: There seem to be a trend of small provocations exploding into civil disruption and violence. The article didn't state that the N. Africans were, in particular, refugees, but the rapid rise of foreign influx into stable localities has assuredly taken its toll on resources, emotions and good will. Fear factors and anger feed spontaneous reactions. Another sign of the times.