The funds will mainly be directed to the development of public transport in order to give residents of the suburbs greater mobility and to bring the outskirts, which in some cases have almost turned into ghettos, out of isolation. "It is unacceptable that residents of some areas in France remain effectively tied to their place of residence," Sarkozy said in this regard. Special attention will be paid to the capital region of Île-de-France.
In addition, the 'Hope for the Suburbs' plan provides that over the next three years, an additional 4,000 police officers will be sent to particularly troubled urban outskirts. They will be stationed in 200 local territorial units to come to the aid of residents at any time.
Also planned is the creation of 'special security units' - each with more than 100 people - to combat street violence. "They will provide regular support to the suburban police in the hottest spots," Sarkozy noted. The first special unit will be created as early as the beginning of 2008 in the suburb of Saint-Saint-Denis. "We will put an end to gang laws, the conspiracy of silence, and drug trafficking," Nicolas Sarkozy promised.
Immigrant suburbs have long been a sore point for France. In 2005, a 'war of the suburbs' swept across France: in response to the death of two teenagers, young people began burning cars and shops at night. Their actions led to serious clashes with police.
Young people from immigrant families set up real ambushes on police patrols and set fire to public buses. In 2006 in Marseille, teenagers threw a Molotov cocktail at a bus. One female passenger was seriously injured and was hospitalized with lung burns.
The mass riots of 2005 almost repeated themselves in 2007, after two teenagers on a stolen motorcycle crashed into a police patrol car in the Paris suburb of Val-d'Oise and died on the spot. Residents of the outskirts again took to the streets; this time some of them had pump-action shotguns, which made the police speak of a real urban war.