Thousands of protesters filled streets in cities across Madagascar on Monday as police used tear gas to disperse the latest wave of demonstrations that the United Nations said has left at least 22 people dead within a week.
The protests, largely driven by young people mobilised through a social media movement called “Gen Z,” erupted last week in anger over prolonged power and water shortages.
Clashes with security forces over two days left more than 100 injured, according to the UN.
The Indian Ocean island nation, one of the poorest globally, has a long history of popular uprisings since independence in 1960, including the 2009 mass demonstrations that toppled then-president Marc Ravalomanana.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk condemned what he called the authorities’ “violent response” to the latest unrest. He urged the government to uphold fundamental rights after security forces dispersed crowds in the capital Antananarivo and other cities using tear gas.
Large groups dressed in black marched through Antananarivo, chanting for President Andry Rajoelina to step down. He rose to power after a coup triggered by the 2009 protests. Some carried placards reading “We want to live, not survive,” which has become a central rallying cry of the movement.
Police detained an opposition legislator during the demonstrations, according to videos circulating on social media, sparking demands from colleagues for his immediate release. At least one other protester was arrested, prompting Turk to call on authorities to “ensure respect for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”
On Sunday night, leaders of the protest movement issued a statement calling for the resignation of the government and Antananarivo’s prefect. They also demanded the removal of close allies of the president, including Prime Minister Christian Ntsay and businessman Mamy Ravatomanga.
The movement has adopted the pirate flag from the Japanese anime “One Piece” as its symbol, a logo also seen recently in youth-led demonstrations in Indonesia and Nepal.
Thursday’s protests in the capital were followed by widespread overnight looting, which police did not respond to. The Gen Z group claimed “groups of anonymous individuals were paid to loot numerous establishments in order to tarnish the movement and the ongoing struggle.”
Demonstrations also spread to Antsiranana in the north. The protests are the most intense since 2023, when opposition parties boycotted elections.
Rajoelina, a former mayor of Antananarivo, left power after the 2013 general elections but returned to win the 2018 presidential vote and was re-elected in 2023 in contested polls with low turnout.
In a video message on Friday, he announced he had dismissed the energy minister “for not doing his job” and described the unrest as “acts of destabilisation.” On Sunday, while addressing residents of a working-class neighbourhood, he promised to “fix everything, to be even closer” to citizens.
Despite its natural resources, Madagascar remains among the world’s poorest and most corrupt countries, ranking 140 out of 180 in Transparency International’s corruption index. The World Bank says nearly three-quarters of the population lived below the poverty line in 2022.
The country has faced repeated bouts of political unrest since the end of French rule. In 1972, then leader Philibert Tsiranana was forced to hand power to the army following a popular uprising that was violently suppressed.