AUSTRALIA has warned its citizens planning to travel to Kanaky (New Caledonia) next week to be vigilant as political tensions rise in the French territory.
While New Zealand has lowered its travel advisory for New Caledonia, Australians planning to visit the French Pacific territory are being advised to be extra careful this week.
New Zealand, however, has lowered its travel warning status six months after New Caledonia reopened its doors to tourists at the end of a year marked by serious unrest which created major political and economic issues in the region.
The French Minister for Overseas Affairs, Manuel Valls, is expected to visit the territory next week after many New Caledonia who support independence, especially the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), rejected an agreement signed on July 12 for shared autonomy.
The FLNKS held a meeting on Saturday and unanimously expressed their strong disapproval of the terms of what has been named the Bougival Accord.
The agreement offered New Caledonians dual citizenship (French and New Caledonia) with France giving limited control to the territory.