A convoy of armored vehicles and heavy construction machinery was dispatched from the capital along with the AFP. Reporting Workers were still creating temporary blockades on Sunday afternoon local time. At least 230 people have been detained, and New Caledonia’s High Commissioner Louis Le Franc has said the road is under government control.
A A state of emergency has been declared Six people have lost their lives so far in New Caledonia after major clashes between protesters and police since Wednesday. Shops, cars and government buildings have been set on fire in the unrest, which erupted after French MPs voted constitutional change This would allow all residents of the archipelago to vote in local elections. Many of the island’s native Kanak people fear the move will marginalize their voices and undermine efforts to win independence from Paris.
General Nicholas Matthews of the local gendarmerie has Protestors ordered to stand down, “We are going to win this battle,” he said. “If the rioters resist, they will be putting themselves at great risk. Therefore, I invite them to stop clashes, hostilities with police and gendarmes, Matheos warned.
France has Accused Azerbaijan and Russia of spreading unrest In New Caledonia, an intelligence official told POLITICO that the activity of hostile states had been detected “for weeks, even months. They are pushing the envelope on France being a colonizing state.”
New Caledonia, named by British explorer James Cook in 1774, was conquered by France in 1853. Since then, development has lagged far behind most other French states, and leaders of the ethnic Kanak community say they face discrimination and long-term underinvestment.
However, a series of independence referendums have failed to show significant support for breaking ties with Paris. The 2021 vote – which was boycotted by most of the Kanak community – returned a 96.5 percent majority for France to remain. However, a 2020 referendum found that about 47 percent of the population wanted to create an independent country.