French President Emmanuel Macron made a surprise visit to New Caledonia to hold talks with pro-independence leaders. New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific, has been engulfed in violence for more than a week.
Six people have been killed and hundreds injured since demonstrations by the Kanak indigenous people turned violent early last week. French authorities have sent hundreds of police into New Caledonia to impose a curfew and ban TikTok, but they have not Try to regain calm within the territory.
Some local leaders have expressed doubts that Macron, who is due to arrive on Thursday, can ease tensions. “The firemen came after the fire was set!” Jimmy Naouna, spokesman for the pro-independence party coalition FLNKS wrote on social media.
Many in the Kanak community have accused Macron and France of reneging on an agreement that could have put New Caledonia on a path to independence. At the root of the dispute is an amendment to the French constitution that would have unfrozen New Caledonia’s electoral rolls – a move that could have tilted a self-determination referendum in France’s favour. Macron has rejected calls to withdraw the amendment.
His trip will be the first by a senior French leader to the region, which is home to about 270,000 people. violence breaks out last Monday. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told the French parliament on Tuesday that Mr Macron would try to “restart dialogue” during his visit.
Police have arrested about 300 people in recent days and used armored vehicles to clear roadblocks around the capital Noumea and the territory’s airport. New Caledonia police commander Nicholas Mathews said some roadblocks were covered in gas canisters.
Australian and New Zealand military aircraft evacuated hundreds of foreign tourists from New Caledonia on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I still feel like a prisoner,” Noumea resident Pierre, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said Wednesday. “Nine days have passed and nothing has changed.”
The violence in New Caledonia is the most intense since the 1980s, when a Kanak uprising led to civil war. Subsequent peace deals called for three independence referendums. Pro-independence sentiment was unexpectedly strong in the first two, with the highest vote being around 47%. The Kanaks boycotted the third vote in 2021 after Mr Macron refused to postpone it during the pandemic.
As the United States and China compete for influence in the Pacific, the region’s economy depends on nickel mining, taking on new strategic value for France.
New Caledonian leaders have called for another vote, angered by France’s proposed constitutional amendments. The measure still must be approved by a joint session of both houses of the French parliament.
Specific details of Macron’s trip, including who he will meet, are unclear.
“The country is in flames and blood and the president of the republic is coming,” Roque Wamitan, the president of New Caledonia’s congress, which supports independence from France, told local news media on Wednesday. “This visit is not in good form.”
