‘Crisis system’ activated as violence worsens
New Zealand officials have activated an “emergency crisis system” and held a meeting with many of the more than 200 New Zealanders in New Caledonia, as unrest in the French territory worsens.
There have been several days of rioting and five people reportedly killed in New Caledonia amid unrest about constitutional changes proposed in Paris.
France has declared a state of emergency in the Pacific territory and has sent a further 1000 security forces, adding to 1700 troops, to try to bring calm, the Associated Press has reported.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who was returning to New Zealand yesterday after a week-long Pacific mission that was to include a stop in New Caledonia, said on Thursday that New Zealand was “watching developments very, very carefully”.
“We asking for [a] serious combination of caution and wisdom there, to ensure that this already alarming circumstance doesn’t get totally out of hand,” he said during a press conference in Tuvalu.
New Zealand officials held a meeting with a large group of New Zealanders in Nouméa on Thursday, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade seeks to get in touch with the 209 New Zealanders registered as being in New Caledonia.
“We are gravely concerned at the serious situation,” a ministry spokesperson said yesterday afternoon.
“The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the situation and have constructive dialogue.
“We call for calm to enable talks to resume.”
There was “no safe way” to leave New Caledonia, as the airport was closed until at least Tuesday, the spokesperson said.
Officials were speaking regularly with authorities in the territory about the closed airport and access to critical supplies including food and medicine.
“New Zealanders in New Caledonia should stay in place and avoid all protests, monitor local media for developments, and comply with any instructions and restrictions issued by local authorities.”
The five dead include two police officers and two of the New Caledonia’s indigenous Kanak community, according to Associated Press reporting.
French Interior and Overseas Territories Minister Gerald Darmanin on Thursday vowed that France “will regain total control”.
France’s ongoing possession of New Caledonia has long been contentious in the territory, though voters elected to remain part of France at the most recent independence vote, in 2021.
Sparking the week’s unrest was a vote in Paris’ National Assembly on a constitutional amendment which has been opposed due to concerns that it will benefit proFrance politicians in the territory.