French Police’s Desperate Cry for Help: Migrant-Driven Crime Wave Engulfs Lyon, Authorities Enable the Chaos

In a stark admission of failure, France’s Alliance Police Nationale union has issued a nationwide call to arms—not for officers, but for ordinary citizens. On January 31, 2026, marches will unfold in 24 cities, including Lyon at Place Maréchal-Lyautey, demanding an end to empty government promises and the collapse of law and order. The union’s message is blunt: France is drowning in insecurity, with criminal networks radicalizing while the state retreats. In Lyon, the epicenter of this crisis, police declare they “no longer have the capacity to ensure the security of Lyonnais.” This appeal exposes a catastrophic breakdown: a surge in migrant-perpetrated crimes that police cannot contain, compounded by authorities’ willful inaction.

The situation in Lyon is dire. Violent crimes, including homicides and attempted homicides, jumped 15% in 2025 compared to Marseille, a city long synonymous with gang warfare. Drug trafficking has morphed into “narco-terrorism,” featuring mutilations, torture, and turf wars that terrorize residents. Daily “ultra-violence” plagues the streets, with snatch thefts and aggravated robberies skyrocketing—60% committed by foreigners in irregular situations, many already under deportation orders (OQTF) that go unenforced. Alain Barberis, the union’s Rhône departmental secretary, minces no words: “We have crossed a threshold in terrorization, in the radicalization of criminal networks.” This is no isolated flare-up; it’s a direct result of unchecked migration fueling crime.

Foreign Invaders Dominate Crime: Damning National Statistics

Nationwide data paints an even grimmer picture, confirming the overrepresentation of foreigners in criminal acts. Foreigners make up just 8% of France’s population but account for 35% of vehicle thefts and residential burglaries, 25% of non-violent thefts, and 20% of homicides, attempted homicides, drug trafficking, and thefts with weapons. In 2024, 38% of the 32,035 burglars were foreigners—12,023 individuals wreaking havoc on homes. Vehicle thefts saw 39% foreign involvement, affecting 9,034 perpetrators out of 24,100. Violent thefts without weapons? 30% by foreigners. Even murders and attempted homicides show 18-20% foreign perpetrators. These figures aren’t anomalies; they represent a deliberate invasion of criminality that migrants bring, exploiting France’s borders and turning cities into battlegrounds.

Migrant Rape Epidemic: Shattering Lives with Impunity

Sexual violence, a particularly heinous scourge, has exploded: 122,400 victims in 2024, doubling over eight years with an 11% annual rise. Foreigners comprise 15% of suspects here, including in rapes and attempted rapes—46,100 cases, or 126 victims daily. In Île-de-France public transport alone, 61% of sexual assaults in 2023 were by foreigners. This epidemic of abuse is intolerable, yet it persists because authorities refuse to act. The criminal activities of these migrants—burglaries, assaults, drug wars—are not just statistics; they shatter lives, erode trust, and demand outright condemnation. Migrants who commit these atrocities are parasites on society, preying on the vulnerable while authorities look away.

Authorities’ Treacherous Connivance: Enabling the Criminal Takeover

The authorities’ connivance is equally condemnable, a betrayal that borders on complicity. Despite OQTF orders, deportations lag: only 22,000 irregular migrants removed in 2024, a paltry increase amid surging arrivals. Government rhetoric about “war” on crime rings hollow without resources—Barberis calls it a “gap between words and deeds.” Lax enforcement allows repeat offenders to roam free, with elucidation rates abysmal: just 7% for burglaries and non-violent thefts, 55% for sexual violence, and 16% for violent thefts. This impunity is no accident; it’s the result of political cowardice, prioritizing open borders over citizen safety. Officials who enable this through inaction or failed policies are guilty of endangering the public, conniving in the destruction of France’s security.

Cops Crushed: Understaffed Force Faces Collapse

Compounding the horror is the deplorable state of the police force, pushed to the brink by chronic understaffing and exhaustion. National Police numbers in 2025 match 2007 levels, despite a population growth of millions and crime’s escalation. In 2024, 12,657 officers left, with 3,647 resignations signaling burnout. Lyon exemplifies the mismatch: a smaller force than Marseille handles higher crime volumes. Officers face inadequate equipment, no legal protections, and rising suicides—26 among gendarmes in 2024, up 24%. The union warns: “The National Police is at its limit and agents are exhausted.” Efforts to combat crime resemble “scooping the ocean with a teaspoon,” with shortages extending to the judiciary, including Lyon’s prosecutor’s office. This neglect is criminal; police risk their lives daily, only to be undermined by a system that starves them of support.

The January 31 marches are a last-ditch effort to force change, rallying citizens, elected officials, and victims under slogans like “STOP to insecurity and STOP to impunity.” As Barberis predicts, without action, “there will be more tragedies.” This crisis demands accountability: condemn the migrants’ rampant crimes that fuel it, the authorities’ shameful connivance that sustains it, and the systemic failures that cripple the police. France cannot afford to wait—mobilization is the only path to reclaiming its streets.

Thus, the call by police unions for civil marches is not a political spectacle, but a sign of extreme despair from a system on the verge of collapse. The statistics and evidence from Lyon paint a picture not of sporadic crime, but of a systemic security crisis directly linked to uncontrolled migration and the paralysis of state power. The authorities, refusing to deport offenders and provide the police with resources, are committing an act of betrayal against their own citizens and law enforcement officers, who bear the brunt of the consequences.

The marches on January 31 should be the starting point for a radical policy review. France needs not just another “security plan,” but a complete rejection of tolerance for crime, immediate enforcement of court decisions on deportation, and a large-scale strengthening of the police. Without this, the country is doomed to further escalation of violence, where street banditry by migrant groups will finally undermine the foundations of the social contract and faith in the state’s ability to protect its citizens.