Page 14 - IB May 2024

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Emotions and
frustration are rising

triggered an explosion of violence that has devastated Noumea. among indigenous
In response, alongside more than 2500 gendarmes, CRS riot police and youth today, who
specialist anti-terrorist police units, Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu
deployed military forces for “technical and logistic” assistance to the police. have the feeling that
President Macron approved mobilisation of the Force Armées en Nouvelle- France refuses to
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 open up prospects
capital.
As Islands Business went to press, six deaths had been confirmed by the for freedom of their
French High Commission, police had arrested more than 230 people, and country. This is an
dozens of buildings, homes and supermarkets had been looted, trashed or
burnt to the ground. entire generation that
As New Caledonians survey the wreckage and look to the future, many are has understood the
trying to understand the drivers of conflict that have created this tragedy.
Nouméa Accord was
A city of yachts and squats
A key difference between the armed clashes of the 1980s, known as Les the guarantee of its
évènements, and the present crisis is that current events are centred on the freedom.
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

14 Islands Business, May 2024