The state of emergency in New Caledonia, which has been hit by deadly rioting, will be lifted early Tuesday local time, as 480 gendarmes are being sent to the Pacific territory as reinforcement.
According to a statement from the Elysée palace on Sunday: "The President has decided for the time being not to extend the state of emergency" beyond its legal deadline of 12 days to allow for meetings with the pro-independence FLNKS party.
Seven people have been killed in New Caledonia since riots over planned voting reforms erupted on 13 May.
Paris declared a state of emergency in the overseas territory two weeks ago, flying in hundreds of police and military reinforcements to restore order in the archipelago, which lies around 17,000 kilometres from mainland France.
The French government hopes that this easing of restrictions will enable dialogue to be re-established on the many blockades still in place.
🏥 #NouvelleCalédonie | Rétablir l’accès aux soins est une priorité.
— Haut-commissariat en Nouvelle-Calédonie 🇫🇷 (@HC98800) May 26, 2024
➡️ Ce matin, une importante opération menée par la @Gendarmerie a permis de sécuriser le Médipôle de #Dumbéa, principal hôpital du territoire. pic.twitter.com/MS47dNo3eX
Reinforcements deployed in Nouméa
On Saturday, the FLNKS party renewed its "call for calm" and asked for "the blockades on the main traffic routes to be eased".
The lifting of the blockades is "the necessary condition for the opening of concrete and serious negotiations", the French presidency added in its statement, which said the state of emergency would be lifted at 5:00am Tuesday (18h00UT Monday).
Last Thursday, President Emmanuel Macron flew to the Pacific archipelago in an urgent bid to defuse the crisis, with the situation gradually easing over the past few days.
Police are struggling to control certain districts of the capital Nouméa and the international airport will remain closed to commercial flights until at least 2 June.
The Elysée also announced "7 additional mobile force units – 480 mobile gendarmes" would be sent to New Caledonia "within the next few hours" as reinforcements.
In total, around 3,500 troops have been deployed to the archipelago, where two gendarmes died during the riots over planned voting reforms.
Referendum on voting reforms
New Caledonia has been ruled from Paris since the 1800s, but many indigenous Kanaks still resent France's power over their islands and want fuller autonomy or independence.
France is planning to give voting rights to thousands of non-indigenous long-term residents, something Kanaks say would dilute the influence of their votes.
During his visit, Macron pledged that the planned voting reforms would "not be forced through".
The president also said he would be willing to hold a referendum on the contentious changes, though he hoped that elected New Caledonian officials would be able to reach an agreement.
The pro-independence FLNKS party has reiterated its demand for the withdrawal of the voting reforms after meeting with Macron.
