Tensions remain high in Corsica after burkini beach riot

From France 24

A beach brawl between locals and families of North African origin in Corsica, reportedly due to photos being taken of women in burkinis, resulted in protests Sunday as tensions remained high.

Saturday’s dispute erupted between members of “three families of North African origin and young locals”, prosecutors said in a statement, describing the clashes as “very violent”.

Witnesses said the fight started after the families objected to tourists taking pictures of women bathing in burkinis, the full-body, head-covering Islamic swimsuits. Some of those involved in the brawl were reportedly armed with hatchets and harpoons.

Prosecutors said five people, including a pregnant woman, were injured in the fighting, all of whom were later discharged from hospital.

The incident took place on a creek near the village of Sisco, in Upper Corsica.

On Sunday, the unrest spread to the island’s second city of Bastia, where hundreds of Corsicans marched on the Lupino district, which has a large North African community, chanting, “This is our home.” Riot police could be seen barring the angry crowd from a housing estate, where some of the bathers involved in Saturday’s brawl are said to live.

On Monday, Corsica’s Sisco became the third French town, after Cannes and Villeneuve-Loubet, to ban the burkini from its beaches.

Sisco’s Socialist Mayor Ange-Pierre Vivoni told France’s BFM TV that the burkini was not acceptable in his town. He said he was not targeting Muslims but he wanted to get rid of Islamist fundamentalists on the island. “These people have no business here,” Vivoni said.