France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, declared a state of emergency in New Caledonia following a violent protest breakout. The unrest has led to almost 200 arrests, dozens of injuries, and a reported four deaths since Wednesday.
Protestors have taken drastic measures such as setting businesses and cars ablaze, and discharging firearms to induce wide-scale panic. According to Reuters, three young Kanak are among the deceased in the riots as well as a 22-year-old police official who died from a gunshot injury. New Caledonia’s High Commissioner, Louis le Franc censured the violent acts, labeling them as severe attacks on people and property. He disclosed that security forces have been mobilized to counter these actions.
Video footage from the incident, broadcasted by ‘FRANCE 24’, showed protestors defacing police cars and looting supermarkets, which led to reported shortages of food and medical supplies in New Caledonia.
The New Caledonian government informed citizens via an announcement on Saturday that despite the challenges imposed by road blocks, efforts are being made to ensure the delivery of medical and food supplies to the populace.
The territory of New Caledonia, an appendage of France, located about 1,500 km east of Australia, has been under French governance since the 1850s. An upcoming constitutional amendment proposed by France’s National Assembly seeks to allow French residents living in New Caledonia for the last ten years to participate in local elections. The current system implemented in 1998 restricts voting rights to locals and pre-1998 Nouméa Accord immigrants and their descendants. The proposal faces resistance from pro-independence supporters who fear that this modification could marginalize the native Kanak populace.
As a part of the state of emergency, the High Commissioner released a statement extending the prohibition of public gatherings and the enforcement of a curfew throughout the territory. All sale of alcohol and weapons carrying are also prohibited. Compliance with these measures is stressed upon by the High Commissioner.
Additional military personnel from France were dispatched to assist law enforcement in New Caledonia on Friday. Despite fires and a fatality incident involving a gendarme, the High Commissioner reports a more peaceful situation has been established since the state of emergency was put into effect, as per a further statement.
News publication Le Monde suggest that the radical “CCAT cell,” affiliated with the pro-independence FLNKS group, claim their members have been told to act reasonably within the unrest. In a Friday press release, the cell iterated that it had “mobilized the country for a noble cause” – independence, and held “the State responsible for the loss of human life, the atrocities and the destruction of the country.”