New Caledonia riots: inequalities, lack of indigenous voice expose ‘failures’ of French democratic system

‘Foreign interference’ narrative, a bid to deflect France’s responsibility for the crisis and insult to the Kanak people’s long struggle for independence, analysts note

Countries such as Australia should step up to address injustice of indigenous peoples, stop viewing the Pacific as vulnerable to ‘foreign actors’ like China, they add

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Burnt vehicles in the Magenta district of Noumea, France’s Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on Tuesday Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00am, 22 May 2024

As Australian and New Zealand planes begin evacuating citizens from the embattled Pacific island of New Caledonia on Tuesday after a week of riots, France will continue to come under pressure over its refusal to decolonise the territory, analysts say.

Violent protests broke out in the island territory northeast of Australia last week after Paris extended voting rights to French people who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years or more, thus potentially diluting the indigenous Kanak people’s efforts to win independence.

France declared a state of emergency for the territory and has deployed armed forces to the island to quell the unrest that had led to blocked roads, a closed airport, six deaths, and stranded Australians, New Zealanders and other nationals.

French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed he would depart for the territory on Tuesday night.

Repatriated Australian travellers arrive from New Caledonia to Brisbane International Airport, in Brisbane, Australia, on Tuesday. Photo: AAP via AP

Tensions between New Caledonia and its colonial master France have spanned decades, but they have reached a tipping point, according to Patrick Kaiku, a political-science teaching fellow at the University of Papua New Guinea.