- Title: Nine arrested after night of violence and unrest in Martinique
- Date: 27th November 2021
- Summary: FORT-DE-FRANCE, MARTINIQUE (NOVEMBER 27, 2021) (REUTERS) FIREFIGHTERS ENTERING BURNT OUT PETROL STATION AND SHOP VARIOUS OF DAMAGED PETROL STATION AND SHOP DIGGER PARTIALLY PARKED IN BURNT OUT POST OFFICE EMERGENCY VEHICLES AT SCENE EMERGENCY VEHICLES AT SCENE / PEOPLE LOOKING ON / FIREFIGHTERS DIGGER PARTIALLY PARKED IN BURNT OUT POST OFFICE FIREFIGHTERS LOOKING AT DIGGER
- Embargoed: 11th December 2021 22:38
- Keywords: COVID-19 Martinique Martinique unrest coronavirus coronavirus restrictions protests
- Location: FORT-DE-FRANCE, MARTINIQUE
- City: FORT-DE-FRANCE, MARTINIQUE
- Country: Martinique
- Topics: Health/Medicine,South America / Central America,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001F5DIP1J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Police arrested nine people on Saturday (November 27) in Martinique as protests against COVID-19 restrictions intensified.
In the neighbourhood of Godissard protesters set fire to a petrol station and used a digger to break into a post office and rip out the ATM from the wall.
Drivers were forced to change routes as many roads remained blocked by barricades of burnt cars and debris.
The French health ministry on Friday (November 26) announced that it was postponing a deadline for mandatory vaccination of health workers in the French Caribbean until December 31, after the measure spurred widespread protests on the French territories Guadeloupe and Martinique.
Compulsory vaccinations for health workers, a measure already introduced on the French mainland, had fuelled resentment among the islands' majority Black population.
Some on the islands have called the mandate a throwback to France's slavery era, insisting that they should be allowed to make their own choices about health treatment.
Local authorities on Martinique had ordered a curfew on Thursday (November 25) after protesters looted shops and set up burning barricades.
(Production: Ricardo Arduengo, Tanya Lezaic) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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