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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Mathurin Derel in Nouméa and Ben Doherty

‘Not our president’: after Macron’s visit, New Caledonia’s Kanak demand their own future

A resident at a roadblock waves a Kanak flag in New Caledonia.
A resident at a roadblock waves a Kanak flag in New Caledonia. Photograph: Delphine Mayeur/AFP/Getty Images

“I don’t know why our fate is being discussed by people who don’t even live here.”

The 52-year-old Indigenous Kanak – who gave his name as Mike – spoke from a roadblock just north of New Caledonia’s capital, in the hours before France’s president arrived in the Pacific territory that has been paralysed by violent protests.

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