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Ia burnt-out car stands in the middle of the main road in Riviere-Salé, north of Noumea. After days of unrest, young men with masked faces wave a Kanak flag as vehicles pass. All around is wasteland. Stores with gutted facades, burned buildings, debris on sidewalks and roads. Gangs of youths roam the area.
The violence that erupted last week is the worst in New Caledonia as unrest involving independence activists gripped the French Pacific territory in the 1980s.
Anger at France’s plan to impose new voting rules has grown across the archipelago of 270,000 people. The plan would extend the right of French residents living in New Caledonia to vote in provincial elections, which some fear will dilute the vote of the local Kanak population. Kanaks make up about 40% of the population.
The images pouring in from Noumea are alarming: black smoke billowing over the capital as cars, shops and buildings are set on fire. Rioters angered by the electoral change also erected road barricades, cutting off access to medicine and food. On May 15 a state of emergency was declared for 12 days and curfew remains in force across the country.
Hundreds of military and armed police have been sent to restore order and keep the peace. As of Friday, five people had been killed, including two policemen. The other three people were Kanakas.
On Friday, local authorities said the situation was “calmer” after hundreds more French marines began arriving.
Despite calls for calm from political groups – particularly the pro-independence parties most angered by the planned vote change – reports of unrest continued.
“We don’t want to let our people disappear, we will fight until Kanaki is free,” said two rebels who did not want to be named. They were standing near a roundabout in New Caledonia’s capital, Noumea, as a car caught fire.
The men, aged in their 20s, confronted police but said they were refraining from vandalism.
“We don’t rob the shops, we try to tell the younger brothers not to do that, not to burn, but they don’t listen to anyone anymore,” says one.
In the southern districts of the city, where mostly Europeans live, fear dominates. People have organized into collectives and erected barricades to protect their homes. Many have weapons.
Jérôme’s family has lived in New Caledonia for several generations. He lives in the Sainte-Marie district and is married to a Kanak woman. He says his heart is broken.
“The neighbors are crazy, armed and ready to shoot, and I’m trying to calm them down. How are we going to get back together after that?” he says.
The frustration that erupted into deadly violence this week has been building for years. The proposed change to the electoral law marks the latest flashpoint in long-standing tensions over France’s role on the island.
Although New Caledonia has three times rejected independence in referendums, the cause retains strong support among the Kanak people, whose ancestors have lived on the islands for thousands of years. A third referendum, held in 2021, remains contested by pro-independence groups who sought to delay the vote due to the Covid crisis. However, it went ahead and was boycotted by independence groups. This has contributed to growing discontent ever since.
Colonized by France in the second half of the 19th century, New Caledonia has a special status with some local powers devolved from Paris.
French lawmakers this week pushed through plans to allow outsiders who moved to New Caledonia at least 10 years ago to vote in the territory’s elections. Pro-independence forces say this would weaken the Kanak vote.
The proposal still needs to be approved by both houses of the French parliament later this year. President Emmanuel Macron said French lawmakers would vote to accept the constitutional change by the end of June unless New Caledonia’s rival parties could reach a new deal.
Opposition to voting changes on French territory has been building for months. The Cell for Coordination of Field Actions (CCAT), established last November, has been driving the protest movement. It is an offshoot of the Calédonienne Union, the radical fringe of the independence party FLNKS.
Fiercely opposed to French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanen’s proposed constitutional reform aimed at expanding the electorate – and frustrated by the inability of pro-independence politicians to make their voices heard – she has been mobilizing young people in working-class neighborhoods for several months.
When CCAT called for people to mobilize against the electoral law change in April, tens of thousands of people – including many young people – flocked from across the territory to march in the streets of Noumea.
In a country marked by inequality, where much of the population is young, the message is appealing. New Caledonia has mineral resources – it is one of the largest producers of nickel in the world – but the wealth is unevenly distributed.
Despite attempts to reduce equality gaps and improve access to employment, Kanak people remain underrepresented in positions of power and responsibility.
Kanak people generally have lower levels of education than non-indigenous Caledonians. They also make up a large number of the prison population – which has helped fuel a sense of dissatisfaction, particularly among young Kanaks living in urban areas.
French Justice Minister Eric Dupont-Moretti called on prosecutors to “take the most decisive action possible against the perpetrators of the violence”, while a local business group estimated the damage, centered around Noumea, at 200 million euros.
Thierry de Greslant, a spokesman for the hospital in Noumea, said he was primarily concerned for his patients amid the worsening situation.
“We estimate that three or four people may have died due to lack of access to medical care,” he said, adding that there were difficulties in directing patients and health services to the facility due to road blockages.
With the hospital’s operating theaters open around the clock and its staff prepared for any crisis, De Greslan said his concern is for the future.
“We’re in an urban guerrilla situation with gunshot wounds every night,” he said. “We’re ready to face it.”
Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press contributed to this report
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