French 'Freedom convoys' on the way to Paris to show anger over Covid rules

Inspired by Canadian truckers, a 'Freedom Convoy' of French drivers has taken to the roads this Wednesday to reach Paris by Saturday to join a demonstration over the Covid vaccine pass and other social issues. Organised via social media platforms, the protesters plan to converge on Brussels on Monday 14 February.

A placard that reads, ' We are liberty' is held out of a car window as the "Convoi de La Liberte" departs from Bayonne towards Paris in Bayonne southwestern France on February 9, 2022. AFP - GAIZKA IROZ

Thousands of French citizens from all backgrounds have been called upon via Facebook groups and the encrypted messaging service Telegram "to drive towards Paris" ("Rouler sur Paris") in particular to protest against the vaccine pass in place since 24 January in France.

The French 'Convoi de la liberté' ('Freedom convoy') is directly 'inspired' by the 'Freedom Convoy 2022', a protest movement initiated by Canadian truckers - for whom the vaccine is mandatory to cross the border with the United States - that has been paralysing the capital Ottawa for more than a week.

We are "ready to do anything it takes for freedom," one Ottawa protester says Dave Chan AFP

'Break from Saturday rallies'

This 'Convoi de la liberté' is not a protest of lorry drivers, but rather angry citizens.

Two unions in the road transport sector (FO and CFTC) have confirmed that they are "in no way associated with this movement."

"It's extended to everyone, to two-wheelers, cars and vans. It is rather a form of mobilisation on the road. It's a break from the usual Saturday rallies; the more traditional marches", Jean-François Amadieu, sociologist and professor at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne told RFI.

Many Facebook groups and other pages dedicated to the organisation of this convoy have appeared on social media since the end of January. 

The most important one, entitled 'Le convoi de la liberté' (The Freedom Convoy), had more than 300,000 members as of Wednesday. Each route organised from Brest, Perpignan, Lille or Strasbourg and converging on Paris, now has its own Facebook page. 

🗽 CONVOI 🚚🚛🚐🚜🕊🚙🚗🚜🏍 de la LIBERTÉ 🗽

🗽EUROPE 🇪🇺#France 🇫🇷 11/02/2022 Paris#Bruxelles 14/02/2022

🗽TOUS UNIS pour la LIBERTÉ🍀#ConvoyFrance #convoyfrance #EuropeanFreedomConvoy #ConvoiFrance2022 #ConvoiDeLaLiberté
1/2 pic.twitter.com/EHc0KPClqx

— EVA REVE (@evarev1) February 3, 2022

Discussion groups have also been set up on the secure messaging application Telegram. The one entitled 'Convoy France Officiel' had more than 24,000 subscribers by midday on Tuesday.

'Convoy France Officiel' is not directly calling for an action of regrouping or blocking insists Marisa, a spokeswoman for this new movement, speaking in a video chat on Sunday.

In the online chats, some messages mentioned possible actions, notably on the Paris ring road.

But the majority of participants proposed moments of conviviality through a distribution of meals or accommodation on the road.

'Anti-vaccine pass, freedoms, spending power'

According to Jean-François Amadieu, the demands have broadened.

"They are not only anti-vaccine pass (or anti-vax). There are claims on the theme of freedoms in general, claims of the "yellow vests" on the citizen's initiative referendum and the more general ones on spending power and public service."

"Le convoi de la liberté" se prépare à rejoindre Paris pic.twitter.com/PcLEOoD5Th

— BFMTV (@BFMTV) February 9, 2022

"There are more than 260,000 people registered on the Facebook page "Freedom Convoy" [as of Tuesday]. Will that be a lot of people on the road? We can't really know at the moment."

"We can expect a movement that will not have a majority in opinion, unlike the 'yellow vests' movement which was supported by 75% of the French population", explains Amadieu.

This initiative has been taken seriously by the French authorities. On Tuesday, France's interior minister promised "the utmost firmness in case of blockades."

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On Monday morning, a first convoy of about thirty demonstrators who tried to reach the capital in their vehicles was intercepted between the Essonne and Seine-et-Marne departments "in a calm manner", by the police.

Other similar convoys are expected to attempt to reach Brussels from Austria, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands.