The violence and damage committed in recent days are unacceptable. It is time to stop telling young people that everything is going badly and will keep going badly for them. We must dare to tell young people the truth: life demands effort. There are challenges, but it is by investing in work, in intelligence and knowledge that we will solve them, not by protesting and above all by destroying.
The responsibility of parents is also great. For the MR, family allowances must be suspended for the parents of young vandals.
For the past week, some pupils in Liège, Charleroi and Brussels have been protesting in the streets. These protests took an extremely violent turn in the centre of Liège: shops smashed and looted, bins, cars and bus shelters set on fire.
194 people were arrested in Liège; 159 were administrative arrests and 35 judicial arrests.
There were around forty injuries among police officers and none among the protesters.
The left says we must understand young people, but these acts are unacceptable. No amount of anger justifies holding a city hostage for a week. The left also tends to downplay the role of young people in these violent acts: yet it is indeed young people seen on the videos smashing and looting shops. Police have confirmed that there were 13-14 year olds involved.
It is time for the left to stop justifying the unjustifiable and stop finding excuses.
We must also put things into perspective: the left claims that “young people are rising up”, yet the largest gathering numbered 500 young people, compared with around one million young people in compulsory education in the FWB.
These hundreds of young people are also preventing other pupils from entering some schools. While protest and dissent are important rights in a democracy, the rights to knowledge, education and freedom of movement are just as important.
We live in a society that no longer dares to name what is forbidden and that prefers excuses to responsibility.
The MR calls for a return of essential values in our country, and these must be passed on unconditionally to young people: a sense of effort, a sense of authority and of high standards.
As a reminder, in the FWB tuition fees have not been indexed since 2011, and we also have one of the best-funded education systems in the world.
For its part, the far left is stirring up violence, inflaming and manipulating young people. This week's news broadcasts showed it, with PTB leaflets in the hands of young people. “Antifa” groups are also manipulating young people and stoking violence among them, according to police.
Teachers' groups are also responsible. They should encourage pupils to attend classes rather than engage in street violence. It is essential that these pupils find their way back to school as quickly as possible.
Reaffirming individual responsibility: suspension of family allowances for young vandals
The responsibility of parents must also be clearly highlighted. What are the parents of these young vandals doing? Where are they?
For many years, public action has favoured prevention and support. Given the repeated violence and delinquent behaviour, these are no longer enough. It has become essential to clearly reaffirm the notion of individual responsibility and to recall that any deliberate breach of common rules calls for a firm response
For the MR, family allowances must be suspended for the parents of vandals. We have a text to this effect ready to be submitted at all levels of government. If some parents abdicate their responsibility, it is not for the State to assume it.
In this regard, France is currently discussing a bill that would allow family allowances to be withdrawn from the parents of vandals. They also want to touch on other social benefits, such as housing assistance. It is time for us to follow the same path given the repeated acts of violence in our country.
Applying the "vandal pays" principle
We know it: urban damage is rarely followed by punishment. Strengthening people's safety is a priority. We must guarantee physical integrity, ensure the protection of property, secure homes, respond quickly when offences are committed, punish fairly and effectively, and ensure effective compensation for victims and the State. Those who caused damage must pay, and if they are minors, the bill must be sent to their parents.
Administrative fines must also be increased and access to databases accelerated.