Imperial mourns

Several hundred people gathered at the foot of Queen’s Tower on Monday for a minute’s silence to remember the 129 people killed in the Paris attacks. The crowd included students and staff, who joined a Europe-wide moment of reflection three days after the tragedy.

Students paused at 11am, and after a minute of reflection returned to their daily activities. In Paris, crowds converged at the Louvre, Eiffel Tower as well as beneath the make-shift memorial at the Place de la République. The French President, Francois Hollande, observed the minute’s silence amongst students at Paris-Sorbonne university, where three victims of the attack were studying.

Imperial had an intake of around 370 French students last year, making them the second biggest group from abroad, after the community of Chinese students.

Imperial had an intake of around 370 French students last year

One French student told FELIX, “the only way we can stop this is by winning the war. I wish countries will [sic] send more help and soldiers, showing french flags is unfortunately not enough.”

An LSE graduate, Valentin Ribet, perished in the attacks. He was working for a law firm in Paris, having earnt his business law degree in 2014.

Imperial’s president, Alice Gast, tweeted, “We mourn the loss of life and condemn the violence in Paris and we keep our students, staff, alumni, friends and families in our thoughts”. She also wrote to the union’s French society expressing condolence.

One Imperial student, Dan Holloway, tweeted, “To people blaming refugees for attacks in Paris tonight. Do you not realise these are the people the refugees are trying to run away from..?” This has been retweeted almost 80,000 times since he posted it on Friday night.

In an article for The Independent, Dan said he’d had “harassment and abuse” for the post afterwards but that he was also “being told (by people from every corner of the globe) that I had perfectly encapsulated what they wanted to say”.

France’s president, Francois Hollande, has mobilised 115,000 police and soldiers, as part of a huge increase in security in the the French capital, that has included several hundred raids since the attacks. So-called ‘Islamic State’ have claimed responsibility.

David Cameron has announced a “comprehensive strategy” for dealing with ISIS, which he says includes making the case for air strikes on Syria. Parliament rejected to join military strikes in Syria back in 2013, but it is likely that there will be another vote on the matter soon.

Since the attacks, France has launched air strikes on ISIS’ Syrian base in Raqqa. With the US-led coalition, 30 airstikes were conducted on Sunday night, with more following in the week. Reports on how many were injured have been vague.

Last week George Osborne announced, from the Imperial West campus, plans to up the number of spies in all three security agencies. David Cameron has now reiterated that he will increase staff numbers 15% and double the budget for airline security.