New Caledonia sees decline in protests with deployment of 6,000 officers

September 24 () –

New Caledonian authorities reported Tuesday that protests in the territory had eased this evening after several days of unrest, due to the deployment of 6,000 police officers and just days after the death of two people in clashes with gendarmes.

The High Commissioner of New Caledonia has detailed that most of the riots occurred between 6:00 p.m. and midnight (local time) and that they were “quickly controlled thanks to the significant deployment implemented over the weekend” which “allows law enforcement to be present throughout the territory” and arrest the perpetrators of the riots.

According to a statement published on the police website, the number of arrests has increased to 2,938 and “clean-up operations continue to guarantee the safety and free movement of citizens.” The police also reported that a police convoy had been “the victim” of stone throwing.

He also reiterated his call to reject violence, especially on this date, 24 September, which marks the seizure of New Caledonia by France in 1853. “Citizenship Day should bring together all of New Caledonia and its communities, and not divide them,” concluded the High Commissioner.

The conflict, which has claimed the lives of thirteen people, broke out on May 13 after the debate in the French Parliament on an electoral reform that grants the vote to French citizens. The text proposes the right to vote for French citizens who have lived in the territory for at least ten years and was initially approved by the National Assembly but the president of the country, Emmanuel Macron, has stopped its ratification so as not to “force” the crisis.

The Kanaks, and in particular the pro-independence alliance of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), have denounced the proposal as a setback to their aspirations at a particularly critical moment in relations with France, after the alliance boycotted the last independence referendum in 2021, which ended with a victory for the unionists.