Belgium: Student riots in Liège over rising education costs

Hundreds of students took to the streets of Liège, Belgium, protesting against the problems plaguing the education system in the country’s French-speaking community, inspired by the wave of ongoing student mobilizations in neighboring France. Among their grievances, students cited the rising cost of education, increasing university tuition fees, severely overcrowded classrooms, and difficulties accessing learning materials.

Read also: France: Mayor tear-gassed after shielding student protesters (Video)

Belgium: Liège’s central train station temporarily closed amid unrest

Videos circulating on social media showed smashed shop windows and fires burning in the streets of Liège. Belgian media reported dozens of detentions and arrests in the days leading up to the demonstration. During the protest, police conducted body searches on students to check for weapons, Molotov cocktails, crowbars, or other objects, in an effort to prevent any escalation of violence.

Liège’s central train station was temporarily closed before later reopening, according to local media, while police urged residents to avoid the city centre.

Protesters carried placards bearing slogans such as “It’s a right, not a privilege — and we’re fighting for it!” and “I chose education, not hunger!!”

Last June, violent clashes broke out between police and demonstrators over proposed education reforms. These include a tuition fee hike from €835 to €1,194 for the majority of students in Belgium’s French-speaking community.

Belgium: Students express solidarity with protesters in France

Some students expressed solidarity to Reuters news agency with those demonstrating in France, noting that they are in contact with each other. “We support each other because we’re facing almost the same problems,” said 19-year-old Alfred.

Amelia Di Salve, also 19, who is studying to become a teacher, noted that student mobilizations in Belgium were reignited following the mass protests by students in neighboring France.

“When we saw that nothing was changing without protest, we decided to start… We were influenced to some extent by France,” she admitted.

Expressing hope that calm would soon return to the streets of Liège, Mayor Willy Demeyer stressed on broadcaster RTBF the need for dialogue so that “young people can voice their grievances peacefully and, if possible, have their concerns heard.”