New Caldonia, a French overseas territory in the Pacific Ocean, has been overtaken by riots for about a week, causing the airport to close and trapping thousands of tourists on the island.
The 18,575 km2 island, about 1,200 km east of Australia, was annexed by France in 1853. Administrated as an overseas territory, meaning it has its own constitution, a recent vote in the French National Assembly on electoral rules has led to unrest across the island.
The long debated, and contested, new rule gives voting rights to migrants to the island, the majority of whom are French. The indigenous Kanak people, which only make up 40% of New Caledonia’s 270,000 population, argue the updated constitution would heavily dilute the Kanaks’ representation, thus people have taken to the streets to protest against the new constitution.
Despite the arrival of 1,000 French gendarmes and police officers on the island, violence is continuing and has so far led to the death of 6 people, 3 of which from the gendarmerie, and hundreds of injuries. Road blockades have been set up and the airport remains closed for commercial flights.
According to France’s High Commission in New Caledonia, around 3,200 tourists are trapped in hotels on the island. Nearby Australia and New Zealand have received permission to operate evacuation flights for their citizens.
“We’ve received clearance for two Australian Government assisted-departure flights today for Australian and other tourists to depart New Caledonia”, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong wrote on X this morning. A few hours later, a Royal Australian air force C-130 Hercules, which can carry 124 passengers, landed in the capital city of Nouméa.
Around 300 Australian citizens have registered with consular services for evacuation from the island. Wong confirmed the two governments are coordinating on scheduling more flights and that people, including Australian nickel miners as well as tourists from other countries, are being “prioritised based on need”.
New Zealand has also evacuated around 50 of its 250 citizens trapped in New Caledonia, on what Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters called “the first of multiple trips to get kiwis home”. “New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days – and bringing them home has been an urgent priority for the government”, Peters said. “In cooperation with France and Australia, we are working on subsequent flights in coming days.”
As the situation is still evolving, French President Emmanuel Macron is on his way to the Pacific territory to meet with Kanak representatives. Meanwhile, Nouméa Mayor, Sonia Lagarde, told Le Monde that the approval of the changes by both houses of the French parliament should be postponed. Moreover, government heads of four other French overseas territories – Réunion, in the Indian Ocean, Guadeloupe and Martinique, in the Caribbean, and French Guiana, in South America – have warned of “civil war” unless the constitutional changes are withdrawn.
