New Caledonia is experiencing turbulent days.
This French territory made up of several islands in the Pacific has been the scene of violent protests for more than a week, with blocked streets, charred cars and closed and looted businesses.
An electoral reform project triggered the outbreak of violence, which has caused six deaths, two of them police officers, and hundreds of injuries, and has forced a large number of tourists to be evacuated by air.
Authorities declared a state of emergency last Wednesday and French President Emmanuel Macron had to travel from Paris on a 24-hour flight.
Macron said in Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, that the territory is facing “an unprecedented insurrection movement” and announced that a 3,000-strong police contingent will remain in the territory as long as necessary.
The president promised that The controversial reform will not be approved for now and will review the situation again in a month.
“We will give a few weeks to allow tensions to calm down and dialogue to be renewed to find a broad agreement”he claimed.
What is New Caledonia and why does it belong to France?
Located in the warm waters of the southwest Pacific, about 1,500 kilometers east of Australia, New Caledonia is an archipelago where about 270,000 people live.
Kanak indigenous people live there, representing an estimated 41% of the population, with 24% of inhabitants of European origin, the majority French.
The islands of New Caledonia were found by British explorer James Cook in 1774.
In 1853, Emperor Napoleon III decided to annex it to France and until the beginning of the 20th century used it as a penal colony to which thousands of convicts were sent.
Have there been protests before in New Caledonia?
This is not the first time that New Caledonia has experienced violent protests, and the history of its membership in France has not been without conflict.
In 1946, the archipelago officially became a french overseas territory.
But starting in 1970, after important nickel deposits began to be exploited there, Tensions began to arise between Paris and the Kanak independence movementsall against the backdrop of inequalities between indigenous people and settlers of European origin.
Between 1976 and 1988 the resulting conflict claimed dozens of lives.
In 1998, the Nouméa Agreement was signed, by which France committed to granting greater autonomy and political participation to the indigenous Kanak.
The agreement contemplated the holding of three referendums to decide on the independence of New Caledonia, which was rejected in two votes, but the pro-independence forces decided not to participate and deny the validity of the last one because it was held in 2021, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. covid.
Why there are protests now in New Caledonia
The Nouméa agreement established that only those who lived in New Caledonia in 1998 and their descendants could vote in local elections.
The idea was for the Kanak to have greater representation, but in Paris it began to be perceived as an anti-democratic measure and last Tuesday The French Parliament voted in favor of a proposal that would recognize the right to vote for anyone who has lived in New Caledonia in the last 10 years.
The independence leaders fear that this will dilute the electoral weight of the Kanak and the measure will cover up an attempt by Paris to exercise more direct control over the territory. Starting on Wednesday, incidents began to occur.
What can happen from now on
The French government has been increasing security deployment and President Macron said during his visit to Noumea that restoring normality is “the absolute priority.”
New Caledonia has great strategic value for the president, who sees the territory as a platform to ensure the French presence and control of nickel in a region where China is trying to gain a presence.
The Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (Flnks), the main pro-independence organization, rejects the constitutional reform proposal, but also calls for “calm and appeasement.”
The French government opened the door to dialoguewhich the Flnks considers an “opportunity” to ensure that “the demands of each and every one, including those who protest, can be heard and taken into account.”
The planned constitutional reform still has a way to go and requires a joint vote by both chambers of the French Parliament.
The French government has promised that it will not come into force until at least the end of June.
Several of Macron’s allies have asked him to suspend the reform. Sonia Lagarde, mayor of Noumea, who belongs to the president’s party, is one of them.
“We must pause and calm things down. Things have gone too far,” she said.
Macron seems to have heard these requests by announcing that he will give more time to dialogue, but he was also clear in reaffirming the result of the last referendum in which independence was rejected.
During his visit to New Caledonia he met with local leaders for and against independence and said that if both parties reach an agreement a new referendum could be held on the status of the territory.
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