As unrest and rioting persist, the French government has declared that it will send troops to guard ports and the main airport in the French territory of New Caledonia. On Monday, clashes broke out after MPs in Paris approved voting roll modifications that the native population claims will lessen their political clout. The violence has claimed the lives of at least four people, including a police officer.
The unrest began when Parisian lawmakers suggested allowing French citizens who had been residing in the region for ten years to vote in the province. The French parliament gave its approval to the changes early on Wednesday. According to French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, hundreds of people—including about 100 police and gendarmes—have been injured as a result of shoplifting, arson, and burning public buildings.
Violent protests have shook the nation’s capital, Nouméa, for a number of nights. There have been reports of gunfire between rioters and civil defense organizations. Public gatherings were prohibited and a curfew was implemented at night by the French authorities on Tuesday. Authorities, however, reported on Wednesday that there had been an attempt at a jail break-out and that the “serious disturbances” were still going on.
Since the 19th century, the chain of islands that sits between Australia and Fiji has been a French territory. Since the 1980s, there has never been more unrest than this time. France consented to grant the territory greater political autonomy and to restrict voting in provincial and assembly elections to those who were residents at the time of the 1998 Nouméa Accord. Since then, more than 40,000 French nationals have relocated to New Caledonia.
Pro-independence parties boycotted the third vote in December 2021 because the government would not delay it in light of the Covid pandemic. Following the most recent election in 2021, Mr. Macron had declared, “Tonight, France is more beautiful because New Caledonia has decided to stay part of it.” Although New Caledonia has a great deal of autonomy, it still receives significant subsidies from Paris and is largely dependent on France for things like defense and education.
