France sending more security forces to Guadeloupe amid unrest | Al Jazeera

France is sending additional security forces to the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, as the country’s minister responsible for overseas territories met with union leaders to try to defuse days of unrest over COVID-19 restrictions.

In a statement on Monday, Sebastien Lecornu said he met with four union representatives, who handed him a list of their demands. But the ministry said the union leaders failed to denounce recent violence, including attacks on police and other security officers.

“The condition for dialogue is for all political and trade unions to condemn the violence, and more specifically, attempts to murder” the officers, the statement reads.

Protesters in Guadeloupe and neighbouring Martinique have erected barricades and blocked roads this month as anger mounted over an order also in place in mainland France requiring health workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.