The New Zealand Herald

Violence brings chaotic New Caledonia to a total halt

Four people have been confirmed dead so far, there are reports of hundreds injured, numerous fires and mass looting after massive riots and armed clashes between indigenous Kanak pro-independen­ce protesters and security forces in New Caledonia’s capital, Noumea, since Monday.

All internatio­nal flights are grounded, and a state of emergency has been declared by the French President Emmanuel Macron.

Paris has sent an additional 1200 police officers and is hoping the twoweek state of emergency will contain the violence and restore order.

Where is New Caledonia located?

New Caledonia is a French overseas territory situated in the southwest Pacific, a three-hour flight from Auckland.

It has a population of about 270,000 people — 44 per cent indigenous Kanak (Melanesian­s), 34 per cent Europeans (caldoche), mostly French, as well as other minority groups, including Wallisian and Tahitians. More than a third of the population live in the capital, Noumea.

New Caledonia became a French overseas territory almost eight decades ago in 1946 and has limited autonomy within the French legal system.

The French President is the head of state. New Caledonia has representa­tives in the French Parliament — both the National Assembly and the Senate.

While New Caledonia enjoys a degree of autonomy, it relies on France for defence, internal security, and various other matters.

The Noumea Accord signed in 1998 outlined a path to gradual autonomy and restrictin­g voting to the indigenous Kanak and migrants living in New Caledonia before 1998. Under the Accord, New Caledonia was allowed three referendum­s to determine the future of the country.

What were the results of the independen­ce referendum­s?

Over 25 years after its implementa­tion, the Accord, a kind of de facto embryonic Constituti­on for New Caledonia, is now deemed by France to have reached its expiry date after three self-determinat­ion referendum­s were held in 2018, 2020 and 2021.

2018: 56.67 per cent voted against independen­ce and 43.33 per cent in favour. 2020: 53.26 per cent voted against independen­ce and 46.74 per cent in favour.

2021: 96.5 per cent voted against independen­ce and 3.5 per cent in favour.

However, the third and final vote in 2021 — during the height of the Covid pandemic — under the Noumea Accord was boycotted by the proindigen­ous Kanak population.

In the 2021 vote, 96 per cent of the people voted against independen­ce — with a 44 per cent turnout. It was labelled as not valid by Melanesian leaders. Since the last referendum, numerous attempts have been made to convene all local political parties around the same table to come up with a successor to the Noumea Accord.

This would have to be the result of inclusive and bipartisan talks, but those meetings have not yet taken place.

How did it end up with violent unrest?

On Wednesday, the French National Assembly voted 351 in favour (mostly right-wing parties) and 153 against (mostly left-wing parties) the proposed constituti­onal amendments that sparked the illfated protests on Monday.

This followed hours of heated debate about the relevance of such a text, which New Caledonia’s proindepen­dence parties strongly oppose because, they say, it poses a serious risk and could shrink their political representa­tion in local institutio­ns (New Caledonia has three provincial assemblies as well as the local parliament, called its Congress).

New Caledonia’s proindepen­dence parties had been calling for the Government to withdraw the text and instead to send a highlevel “dialogue mission” to Noumea.

The proposed constituti­onal amendments were tabled by French Minister for Home Affairs and Overseas Gerald Darmanin. The text is designed to “unfreeze” or open the restricted list of voters to those who have been residing in New Caledonia for an uninterrup­ted 10 years. But it has not completed its legislativ­e path.

What is the next step?

President Macron has sent an invitation by way of a letter to New Caledonia’s politician­s for a meeting in Paris.

It could also deal with urgent issues facing New Caledonia, such as the current economic crisis (mainly in the nickel industry sector). On Wednesday, reacting to the latest developmen­ts and the first fatalities in Noumea, he appealed for calm.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, speaking before the National Assembly on Tuesday, underlined the opportunit­y for those talks to resume and called on New Caledonia’s parties to “seize the opportunit­y of this extended hand” to resume dialogue.

France imposed an emergency in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia for at least 12 days, boosting security forces’ powers to quell deadly unrest in the archipelag­o where indigenous people have long sought independen­ce.

Armed clashes and other violence that erupted on Monday following protests over voting reforms have left four people dead, including a gendarme, and injured more than 300, French authoritie­s said.

French military forces were being deployed to protect ports and airports, to free up police and security forces battling looting, arson and violence, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced as emergency measures kicked in yesterday morning.

“Nothing can ever justify violence,” Attal said. “Our absolute priority for the next few hours is the return to order and calm.”

The emergency measures give authoritie­s greater powers to tackle the violence, including the possibilit­y of house detention for people deemed a threat to public order and

expanded powers to conduct searches, seize weapons and restrict movements, with possible jail time for violators. The last time France imposed such measures on one of its overseas territorie­s was in 1985, also in New Caledonia.

France’s government also rushed hundreds of police reinforcem­ents to the island, where pro-independen­ce supporters have long pushed to break free from France. The Interior Ministry said 500 additional officers were expected within hours on the archipelag­o to bolster 1800 police and gendarmes already there.

There have been more than 130 arrests so far, French authoritie­s said.

Speaking to broadcaste­r France Info, Anne Clement, a resident of the capital, Noumea, hailed security forces reinforcem­ents because the unrest has morphed into “a real urban guerrilla war”.

People have been confined to their homes for two days, terrified by “shooting from all sides”, Clement, a nursery director, said. “We’ve stopped eating, we’ve stopped living, we’ve stopped sleeping,” she added.

This week’s unrest erupted as the French legislatur­e in Paris debated amending the French constituti­on to make changes to voter lists in New Caledonia.

The National Assembly on Wednesday approved a bill that will, among other changes, allow residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years to cast ballots in provincial elections.

Opponents say the measure will benefit pro-France politician­s in New Caledonia and further marginalis­e indigenous Kanak people.

They once suffered from strict segregatio­n policies and widespread discrimina­tion.

We’ve stopped eating, we’ve stopped living, we’ve stopped sleeping. Anne Clement, Noumea resident