On the night of Monday 13 May, Noumea exploded.
Across many parts of New Caledonia’s capital, young people took to the streets, stoning French riot police, looting and burning shops, car yards and factories. The next day, French High Commissioner Louis Le Franc declared a 6pm to 6am curfew for Noumea and outlying suburbs, and banned the carrying of weapons – yet the riots continued over following nights.
Sonia Backès, leader of the anti-independence party Les Loyalistes and President of the Southern Province wrote to French President Emmanuel Macron, declaring “we are in a state of civil war.” She called on the French State to declare a state of emergency and deploy the French army alongside gendarmes and CRS riot police.
Macron soon declared a state of emergency, only the second time in New Caledonia’s history that French authorities have taken this extraordinary step (the previous one was announced in December 1984, at the start of four years of armed conflict known as Les évènements).
Within days, as hundreds more police were flown from Paris and Tahiti to stop the escalating clashes, France’s Overseas Minister, Gérald Darmanin announced the house arrest of so-called “radical and violent” Kanak leaders from the activist network CCAT. The overnight curfew was soon extended beyond Noumea to the whole territory.
For months, the CCAT has been organising peaceful protests and rallies, backed by members of the main independence coalition Front de Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS), trade union and Kanak customary leaders. They called on the French government to withdraw a constitutional amendment that will change the residency requirements that define New Caledonia citizenship, first created by the 1998 Noumea Accord. Reducing the residency requirement to just 10 years, could open the way for more than 25,000 new voters to be added to electoral rolls for New Caledonia’s three provincial assemblies and national Congress, an increase of 14.5% new voters in a country of just 270,000 people.
For the last few years, many leaders of the independence movement have accepted the need for electoral reform, especially to give voting rights to locally born New Caledonians. However, they have always argued that any compromise on voting rights—which will clearly benefit anti-independence parties—must be part of a broader negotiated agreement that includes a clear pathway to a new political status and political independence.
Talks over the last two years remain deadlocked, despite some private agreement over issues of common concern. But to the anger of FLNKS leaders, French President Emmanuel Macron has proceeded with the changes to voting rights, without forging a final consensus between supporters and opponents of independence in New Caledonia. The approval of legislation by the French Senate in Paris on 2 April and the National Assembly on 13 May was the final straw that triggered an explosion of violence that has devastated Noumea.
In response, alongside more than 2500 gendarmes, CRS riot police and specialist anti-terrorist police units, Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu deployed military forces for “technical and logistic” assistance to the police.
President Macron approved mobilisation of the Force Armées en Nouvelle-Calédonie (FANC), with military personnel taking control of port facilities in Noumea as well as La Tontouta, the international airport on the outskirts of the capital.
As Islands Business went to press, six deaths had been confirmed by the French High Commission, police had arrested more than 230 people, and dozens of buildings, homes and supermarkets had been looted, trashed or burnt to the ground.
As New Caledonians survey the wreckage and look to the future, many are trying to understand the drivers of conflict that have created this tragedy.
A city of yachts and squats
A key difference between the armed clashes of the 1980s, known as Les évènements, and the present crisis is that current events are centred on the capital Noumea.
Despite one death in the Northern Province, at Kaala Gomen on 18 May, the rural areas in the North and Loyalty Islands—with provincial administrations led by independence leaders—are relatively calm (so far).
Since 13 May, most violent clashes are in the Southern Province, around the capital Noumea and the suburbs that stretch to surrounding towns like Mont Dore, Dumbea and Paita.
Noumea is a city of yachts and squats. The city’s wealthy southern suburbs feature luxury apartments, yacht harbours and tourist playgrounds, while poorer working class and industrial areas stretch out to the north. In an urban centre where French public servants receive housing subsidies and high salaries, there are thousands of Kanak and Wallisian squatters living on marginal land or amongst the mangroves alongside the freeway from the airport.
Low wage earners—especially, Kanak and Wallisian—are paying much more for food than comparable workers in France. The official Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies in New Caledonia (ISEE-NC) reports that food products are 78% more expensive in New Caledonia than France, with housing costs 30% higher. This distortion is driven in part by the high number of French public servants and military personnel in Noumea, who gain massive subsidies for being in a “hardship post”, so far from Paris.
For many young people struggling to find jobs and better housing, this inequality of wealth and power has pushed some to the edge. At a press conference after the first night of clashes, High Commissioner Le Franc highlighted that “the perpetrators of the violence are overwhelmingly young men aged between 15 and 25.”
Across the political spectrum, politicians, church, and customary leaders have called for calm and dialogue, criticising the violence, looting and arson. But many elders are grappling with the alienation of young people from the institutions and economic opportunities created over the last 25 years.
Victor Gogny is president of the Sénat coutumier (Kanak Customary Senate), an advisory body to New Caledonia’s Congress and Government made up of 16 indigenous chiefs from the eight customary regions. Speaking to journalists, Gogny highlighted the despair of the young generation who took to the streets.
“They burned symbols of wealth, targeting large shopping centres and businesses,” Gogny said. “They live in urban areas and face daily difficulties. With their families, they live in poverty. They don’t have a job. The rate of those without diplomas reaches 30-40%.
“The violence cannot be justified,” he added. “But emotions and frustration are rising among indigenous youth today, who have the feeling that France refuses to open up prospects for freedom of their country. This is an entire generation that has understood the Nouméa Accord was the guarantee of its freedom.”
It’s notable that many young people defying the curfew were waving or wearing the flag of Kanaky. This new generation were born after the signing of the Noumea Accord in 1998, and only know about the Kanak revolt of the 1980s from their parents and grandparents. A younger generation is showing their opposition to French colonial rule.
Addressing inequality
Since the 1998 Noumea Accord, governments and citizens have tried to address the stark inequality in New Caledonia’s capital, as more Kanak migrate from rural areas to the Southern Province. With the transfer of many powers from Paris to the local provincial assemblies and Congress, successive governments have tried to rebalance the economy and society, through training programs like Cadre Avenir, reform of school curriculums and investment in urban infrastructure.
There are undeniable improvements in recent years: new public transport systems, investment to improve water and electricity supply, and improved education for many disadvantaged Kanak and Wallisian students.
However, in a paper analysing 20 years of policy change, University of New Caledonia researchers Samuel Gorohouna and Catherine Ris have shown there are still startling inequalities in education, health, and access to services. Looking at 2014 census data, they found that “the employment rate was 70% among non-Kanaks and 49% among Kanak”, with significant variation across the three provinces.
Rebuilding the city
Today, the Government of New Caledonia faces a massive challenge rebuilding after the riots. After just three nights of conflict, the New Caledonia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) estimated losses at 200 million euros. CCI President David Guyenne said: “The numbers are colossal, the magnitude of the damage will be enormous. The New Caledonian economy is structurally damaged.”
The riots exacerbate broader problems in the economy. President Louis Mapou, the first Kanak independence leader to head the government in forty years, has tried to introduce progressive tax reform – measures fiercely opposed by Loyalist politicians and business leaders. As Islands Business reported last September, New Caledonia’s crucial nickel industry has been under stress for months, with rising energy costs, industrial disputes, and the withdrawal of capital by overseas joint-venture partners.
Drawing on 2019 census data, the Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies in New Caledonia (ISEE-NC) has documented a stream of departures over the last decade.
“Between 2014 and 2019,” ISEE reports, “27,600 people who lived in New Caledonia in 2014 left the archipelago (i.e. one in ten inhabitants). Three quarters of the departures were people not born in New Caledonia. The apparent migratory balance is in deficit by 10,300 people between 2014 and 2019 (i.e. 2,000 net departures per year).”
This trend has continued over the last five years. Business confidence has been damaged by uncertainty around the three referendums between 2018 and 2021, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic and rising energy and food costs related to wars in Europe and the Middle East.
This month’s devastation of business houses, and public and private infrastructure may contribute to a further exodus of French professionals and entrepreneurs. Many business people and investors see a bleak future for future operations, and some may throw in the towel, returning to France.
The colonial question
The other key driver of the current crisis is the French government’s stubborn refusal to address the longstanding FLNKS call for a pathway beyond the Noumea Accord towards an independent state.
There’s a worrying level of denial as many conservative politicians in Paris and Noumea seek to blame the current crisis on foreign agitators—from Baku to Beijing—rather than address the responsibility of the French State. Many are reluctant to acknowledge that France is not a Pacific nation, but a European colonial power that retains overseas dependencies in every ocean of the world, well into the 21st century.
On 14 April, Gérald Darmanin travelled to New York to address the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation, pledging “France’s commitment to respect for international law, the right to self-determination, dialogue between supporters and opponents of independence in New Caledonia
and the outstretched hand of the State.”
These honeyed words are belied by France’s actual voting record. Last year, Paris repeatedly abstained on UN decolonisation resolutions, such as calls for the withdrawal of military bases from the colonies and a resolution “to develop political education programs for the Territory in order to foster an awareness among the people of their right to self-determination”.
Regional response
A FLNKS delegation plans to travel to neighbouring Pacific countries in coming weeks, seeking diplomatic support.
With the breakdown of trust in Overseas Minister Darmanin, the Kanak leaders have been calling for independent mediators. They are joined by others in Paris, critical of the government’s botched policy.
Earlier this month, three former French prime ministers called for current leader Gabriel Attal to take charge of the issue, in place of the Overseas Minister.Sénat coutumier president Victor Gogny said: “We are asking for the creation of a dialogue mission composed of senior officials, such as [former French prime ministers] Édouard Philippe and Jean-Marc Ayrault. This mission must be impartial and involve the Customary Senate, its councils and its chiefdoms. We must restore the conditions for living together and find a solution that respects the aspirations of the indigenous Kanak people and their young people, within the framework of a peaceful society with other communities.”
A range of Forum leaders have also stressed that the current crisis is a matter of regional security. They have called for calm and an end to violent clashes, but also offered support to mediate the deep divide between supporters and opponents of independence.
Prime Minister of Cook Islands Mark Brown, as Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, noted that the conflict is “deeply concerning to the Pacific family,” without mentioning the right to self-determination.
Offering solidarity to the “brothers and sisters of Kanaky-New Caledonia” and support to the large Tahitian community living in Noumea, President Moetai Brotherson of Mā`ohi Nui/French Polynesia also joined regional calls for calm and dialogue.
“The people of Polynesia are ready to participate in this effort with the aim of reconciliation and peace,” Brotherson said. “We are all Pacific Islanders and what is happening among our brothers and sisters in the Pacific affects us and will continue to affect us. We are linked by history and blood.”
Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai, the current MSG Chair, has echoed the FLNKS demands, calling on the French government to withdraw the government’s constitutional reforms. He stressed “there is an urgent need now for France to agree to the proposal by the FLNKS to establish a dialogue and mediation mission, to be led by a mutually agreed high personality, to discuss the way forward so that normalcy can
be restored quickly and an enduring peace can prevail in New Caledonia.”
As Islands Business went to press, there were some signs that President Macron and key advisers saw the need to shift gears. President of the French National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet – a Macron ally who served as Overseas Minister before her current job –called for the delay of a proposed joint sitting of both National Assembly and Senate (this meeting, known as the Congress of Versailles, is required to validate
the controversial voting rights legislation).
Macron however has not yet committed to fully withdraw the legislation. He even told Le Parisien newspaper that one option was submitting the proposed electoral reforms to a vote of all French people, via a referendum. The notion that all of France should get to vote on whether more French nationals vote in New Caledonia was met with scorn in Noumea – even anti-independence politician Philippe Gomes described it as “a dangerous nonsense.”
However, as more than 2500 French riot police and gendarmes were deployed to New Caledonia, France’s
Overseas Minister continued to call for “firmness and Republican order.” These tone-deaf comments highlighted the ongoing refusal of key politicians to address the fundamental problem: many indigenous Kanak and other supporters of independence do not want to be part of the French Republic.
Following ten days of riots and clashes between protestors and police in New Caledonia, French President, Emmanuel Macron travelled to Noumea to meet with politicians, community leaders and business associations.
After flying for 16,700 kilometres, he spent just 18 hours on the ground. Macron’s trip captured headlines around the world but failed to achieve a breakthrough to restart the stalled dialogue between supporters and opponents of independence.
This month’s tragic destruction of lives and livelihoods highlights one fundamental fact: there can be no agreement on a new political status for New Caledonia without the Kanak people.
