In the French colony of New Caledonia, arson and violence continue on the island in response to the arrest of political leaders on charges of organizing protests against constitutional reform.
According to local media reports, many buildings, including a school near the capital Noumea, were set on fire in the events that started after the arrest of pro-independence supporters who opposed the constitutional reform allegedly prepared by the French administration to neutralize the local people of New Caledonia in the elections.
Security measures in the region were increased following the incidents.
According to the statement issued by the High Commissioner of New Caledonia, 38 people were detained in the incidents.
Pro-independence supporters in New Caledonia, who opposed the French government’s constitutional reform initiative, took action on May 13.
The French government sent a large number of police and gendarmes to the region and declared a state of emergency to suppress the legitimate demands of the Kanaks, the people of New Caledonia, by force.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he had suspended the constitutional reform initiative ahead of early general elections to be held in France on June 30 and July 7.
After 7 pro-independence activists, including Kanak leader Christian Tein, were sent to France, 17,000 kilometers away, to be detained, violence erupted on the island and some buildings and vehicles, including a police station, were set on fire.
The constitutional reform, which would increase the number of French settler voters in New Caledonia and turn the local Kanaks into a minority, must be adopted by the Congress, where both houses of the French Parliament meet, in order to come into force.
