New Caledonia has imposed a curfew and banned public gatherings in the capital, Nouméa, after a day of protests around the French territory against planned changes to the constitution turned violent, with reports of widespread looting and businesses set on fire.
A “great deal of damage” was done to businesses including car dealerships, shops, pharmacies and security cameras in Nouméa and numerous police officers were injured in the violence, the French high commission in New Caledonia said in a statement on Tuesday. Thirty-six people were arrested.
“The high commissioner condemns in the strongest possible terms these acts of violence, which constitute serious attacks on people and property,” the commission said, adding that it was “massively mobilising internal security and civil security forces” over the unrest.
The New Caledonia government appealed for “reason and calm” and called on “all Caledonians to demonstrate a sense of responsibility”.
The protests, which have been simmering for weeks, were organised by the pro-independence field action coordination committee (CCAT), in response to plans by France to expand voter eligibility in local elections to include French nationals who have lived on the island for more than 10 years.
The move, which is due to come up for further debate in the French parliament on Tuesday, is strongly opposed by leaders of the indigenous Kanak population, who see it as a bid to further minimise their influence.
Major car dealers and factories were among the businesses set on fire on Monday, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes website reported. It said major roads going into Nouméa were also blocked by fires and the sound of gunshots could be heard. One fire was still raging in the Magenta area of the capital on Tuesday morning, the website reported.
Several supermarkets in Nouméa were looted as well as in the neighbouring towns of Dumbéa and Mont-Dore, the France.info website reported.
Some main roads were also still being blocked by protesters early Tuesday and the high commissioner called on residents to remain at home. The curfew is to be imposed from 6pm until 6am on Wednesday.
The high commission also banned the carrying and sale of arms as well as the sale of alcohol for two days on Monday.
Most flights had been cancelled to and from Nouméa’s international airport on Tuesday while schools and colleges were shut until further notice.
In a press conference on Tuesday, French high commissioner Louis Le Franc called on independence leaders to use their influence to put an end to the violence, warning that if it did not stop “there will be deaths”, France.info reported.
CCAT leader Christian Téin called on young people to “slow down” but denied his group had called for violence. In an interview with Radio Djiido, he blamed the French state for the unrest, saying it had “turned a deaf ear despite months of mobilisation”.
New Zealand’s foreign minister, Winston Peters, said he had cancelled a trip to the territory planned for later this week due to the unrest, according to the broadcaster RNZ.
France vowed in the Noumea Accord of 1998 to gradually give more political power to the Pacific island territory of nearly 300,000 people.
Under the agreement, New Caledonia has held three referendums over its ties with France, all rejecting independence.
The pro-independence Indigenous Kanaks rejected the result of the last referendum held in December 2021, which they had boycotted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Noumea Accord has also meant that New Caledonia’s voter lists have not been updated since 1998 – meaning that island residents who arrived from mainland France or elsewhere anytime in the past 25 years do not have the right to take part in provincial polls.
The French government has branded the exclusion of one out of five people from voting as “absurd”, while separatists fear that expanding voter lists would benefit pro-France politicians.
During a visit to the territory last year, President Emmanuel Macron said he wanted a revised constitutional status for New Caledonia to be in place by the beginning of 2024.
Macron has been seeking to reassert his country’s importance in the Pacific region, where China and the United States are vying for influence but France has territories such as New Caledonia and French Polynesia.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
