At least three people were reportedly killed in New Caledonia, France’s overseas territory, in riots that erupted after the National Assembly approved a constitutional reform on electoral lists.
There were violent protests and looting on the island in the Pacific Ocean. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced that the cause of the deaths has not yet been determined, but hundreds of people were injured, including about 100 police and gendarmes. Protests in New Caledonia, which is experiencing the biggest civil unrest since the 80s, turned into violent clashes with security forces on Monday night. Homes and businesses were set on fire, schools, public buildings and shops were looted. Following the incidents, a curfew was imposed on the island, meetings were banned and the airport was closed to transportation.
The protests were sparked by a constitutional reform of France’s electoral lists in New Caledonia. This reform increases the number of people eligible to vote in regional elections. New Caledonia’s long-standing independence debate and relations with France have been further strained by the reform decision. The ongoing dispute over voting rights as set out in the Noumea Agreement has led opponents of the reform to take to the streets, triggering violent protests.
Why did the protests start?
Located between Australia and Fiji, New Caledonia is a territory that stretches from the Caribbean and Indian Ocean to the Pacific and remained part of France in the post-colonial period.
France does not want to lose this strategic importance in the Pacific region, where China and the United States of America (USA) are struggling for influence. To this end, the constitutional amendment adopted by the parliament after a long and tense debate increases the number of people eligible to vote in regional elections.
In the 1998 Noumea Agreement, France pledged to gradually give more political power to the Pacific island region of around 300,000 people.
Under the agreement, New Caledonia has rejected independence in three referendums on its ties with France. But independence continues to enjoy support, especially among the indigenous Kanak people.
