May 21. () –
The Governments of Australia and New Zealand announced this Tuesday that they will send rescue planes during the day for tourists who are stranded in New Caledonia, a French territory located that includes more than a dozen islands in the Pacific.
The Australian Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, has reported that she has received authorization to carry out two departure flights for tourists – Australian and other nationalities – “to leave New Caledonia today.”
His office is contacting registered Australians, while prioritizing passengers according to their needs and continuing to work to get more flights, as indicated by Wong through his profile on the social network X.
For his part, his New Zealand counterpart, Winston Peters, has confirmed the dispatch of a plane to New Caledonia “in the next hour, in the first of a series of proposed flights to begin bringing New Zealanders home.” In this case, the aircraft will transport about 50 passengers “with the most urgent needs” from Noumea to Auckland.
“New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a difficult few days and bringing them home has been an urgent priority for the Government. (…) The situation remains dynamic and the Government continues to work with France and other partners, especially Australia, to understand what is needed to guarantee the safety of our people there,” he declared.
Peters has stated that, in cooperation with French and Australian authorities, he is working on subsequent flights for the coming days. Finally, she took the opportunity to thank the support of the relevant authorities, both from Paris and Nouméa, for facilitating this flight.
The day before, Wong and Peters spoke with the French Foreign Minister, Stéphane Séjourné, about the situation in their overseas territory. “We have conveyed our condolences, expressed gratitude for the French efforts to restore calm, and have reiterated our request to agree to allow repatriation flights as soon as possible,” said the New Zealand diplomat.
The conflict, which has so far resulted in six deaths and 270 arrests, broke out last week after the debate in the French Parliament of an electoral reform that grants the vote to French citizens. The text, finally approved and which the country’s president, Emmanuel Macron, wants to ratify next month, proposes the right to vote for French citizens who have been residing in the territory for at least ten years.
The Kanaks, and especially the independence alliance of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), have denounced the proposal as a blow to their aspirations at a particularly critical moment in relations with France, after the alliance boycotted the last independence referendum of 2021, which resulted in victory for the unionists.
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