France declares a state of emergency due to raging protests in New Caledonia, 4 dead

Sydney:

Armed forces protected New Caledonia’s two airports and port after a third night of violent unrest that left four people dead, the Pacific island’s top French official said Thursday morning, adding that at least four suspected instigators were under house arrest.

Gendarmes faced about 5,000 rioters in three municipalities on the French-controlled island, including between 3,000 and 4,000 in the capital Noumea, France’s high commissioner Louis Le Franc said in a televised news conference.

Two hundred people were arrested and 64 gendarmes and police officers were injured, while street barricades erected by protesters led to a “catastrophic situation” in the supply of medicine and food to the population, he added.

France declared a state of emergency in New Caledonia, which came into effect at 5 a.m. local time (1800 GMT Wednesday), giving authorities additional powers to ban gatherings and ban people from staying on the island.

After rioters set fire to vehicles and stores and looted stores, a police reinforcement of 500 officers was deployed to the 1,800 officers normally present on the island.

Nouméa resident Yoan Fleurot told Reuters in a Zoom interview that he saw looting and destruction of property. Some shop owners willingly allowed their shelves to be looted and pleaded that their stores not be destroyed, he said.

Fleurot said he was armed with a 16-caliber gun and had video surveillance installed around his home. He added that he only set out in daylight to check on his parents or property.

The roadblocks were difficult to pass and he was subjected to insults and threats of violence, he said.

“I’m New Caledonian, but I don’t know my country anymore,” he said.

“Caledonia will have a hard time recovering from this crisis… Everything, 80%, is destroyed,” he added.

Main and secondary roads in Noumea were blocked by barricades with burning cars and car corpses, some booby-trapped with gas bottles and ignition devices, French official Le Franc said.

“I call on CCAT leaders to stop these actions, which are murderous, deadly actions that can leave families grieving,” he said, referring to the Field Action Co-ordination Cell (CCAT) , which organized the protests that began on Monday.

He said CCAT was “an organization of thugs engaging in acts of violence,” distinguishing it from the main pro-independence party FLNKS and other pro-independence political groups.

FLNKS condemned the violence and called for dialogue to resolve the situation.

There were also confrontations overnight between active members of the CCAT and self-defense groups or militias formed for self-protection, he said, adding that the militias also violated the curfew and the ban on carrying weapons.

Unrest broke out over a new bill approved by lawmakers in Paris on Tuesday that would allow French residents who have lived in New Caledonia for a decade to vote in provincial elections – a move that some local leaders fear he will dilute the votes of the indigenous Kanak people.

Three Kanak youth died in the unrest and a 24-year-old police officer died of a gunshot wound.

The state of emergency will last 12 days and authorities have also banned the video app TikTok.

The electoral reform is the latest flashpoint in a decades-long dispute over France’s role on the mineral-rich island in the southwest Pacific, about 1,500 km (930 miles) east of Australia.

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