The main provincial road linking New Caledonia’s capital, Nouméa, to the south of the main island will be fully reopened to motorists after almost eight months.

Route Provinciale 1 (RP1), which passes through Saint Louis, had been the scene of violent acts — theft, assault, carjackings — against passing motorists and deemed too dangerous to remain open to the public.

Instead, since the violent riots that started in mid-May 2024, residents of nearby Mont-Dore had to take special sea ferries to travel to Nouméa, while police and gendarmes gradually organised protected convoys at specific hours.

The rest of the time, motorists and pedestrians were “filtered” by law enforcement officers, with two “locks” located at each side of the Saint Louis village.

The troubled road was even fully closed to traffic in July 2024 after tensions and violence in Saint Louis peaked.

Last Friday, January 31, French High Commissioner Louis Le Franc announced that the RP1 would be fully reopened to traffic from today.

Gendarme patrols stay
The French High Commission, however, stressed that the law enforcement setup and gendarme patrols would remain posted “as long as it takes to ensure everyone’s safety”.

“Should any problem arise, the high commission reserves the right to immediately reduce traffic hours,” a media release warned.

The RP1’s reopening coincides with the beginning, this week, of crucial talks in Paris between pro-independence, pro-France camps and the French state on New Caledonia’s political future status.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A Kanak political commentator in Aotearoa New Zealand says calls to separate New Caledonia into pro- and anti-independence provinces would worsen racial inequality in the Pacific territory.

Unrest continues in the capital Nouméa, with the nephew of New Caledonia Congress pro-independence president shot and killed at Saint Louis, and more armoured vehicles arriving from France.

The official death toll as a result of the unrest stands at 10, but there are reports that more people have died because emergency services could not reach them in time due to roadblocks.

Calls to divide the territory’s provinces are being pushed by loyalist and the French territory’s Southern Province President Sonia Backes.

Speaking at the weekend, Backes said the project of a New Caledonia institutionally united and based on living together with each other was “over”.

AFP news agency reported Backes had said that when two opposing forces were convinced they were legitimately defending their values, they were faced with a choice of fighting each other to the death or separating so they could live.

Political uncertainty in Paris is delaying the possibility of any kind of resolution in the troubled territory, which is also fraught with internal divisions among both the pro- and anti-independence camps.

Pockets of inequality
Auckland lawyer Joseph Xulue told RNZ Pacific “separatist ideology” would create pockets of inequality.

“The support in the region, particularly, support in respect of economic resources, administrative resources would almost certainly be pumped into the Southern Province if this were to eventuate because France would understand that those are the people who are loyal to them,” he said.

Xulue said Backes’ ideas went against the spirit of the Nouméa Accord.

“It was agreed to and formed on the basis that we would not have this kind of separatist ideology. It helps to assent the actual Accord’s document . . .  [there’s a] stipulation that this would not happen.

“If Kanaky New Caledonia is going to advance beyond the actual Accord’s process.”

He added that Backes’ ideas would only worsen racial inequality in the archipelago.

‘Political reverberations’
Islands Business correspondent Nic Maclellan, who has been covering the French territory for decades, told RNZ Pacific the area where the latest death had been recorded had a long colonial history.

Maclellan said that in 1878 there was a revolt in the north and centre of the country, then in the 19th century, as the French military moved in attacking villages, many people fled to the outskirts of the capital.

He said nowadays Saint Louis was one of the areas where survivors from past conflicts had fled too.

“It has always been a hotspot, there has always been a level of criminal activity around people of St Louis. It is a strong community, largely Kanak,” he said.

“Police reports which is still under investigations suggest that a group of Kanaks were firing at a police drone. There was a exchange of gunfire between the Kanak activist and the members of the GIGN paramilitary unit and in that case a GIGN police officer shot and killed Rock [Victorin] Wamytan.”

Maclellan said the name of the dead man was symbolic in New Caledonia.

“[He] is nephew of Rock Wamytan, the current President of the Congress of New Caledonia who is a high chief of Saint Louis. So, beyond the allegations of criminal activity by this, this group of activists, it has also got political reverberations.”

French snap elections unhelpful
He said the French snap elections results both in mainland France and New Caledonia would continue to reverberate in months to come.

While the polls were predicting that the extreme right led by Marine Le Pen would win the largest bloc, and possibly a majority in the government, those polls turned out to be wrong.

Instead, a left alliance, known as the New Popular Front — an alliance of parties including the Greens, the Socialists, the Communist Party, and a large group led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, France Unbowed, (LFI), have got the largest bloc.

However, Maclellan said no one had the absolute majority required to have the ruling numbers in the 577-seat French legislature in Paris.

“All in all, it is very complex, a fast-moving situation in Paris. We will see what happens.

“But the real problem for the Pacific is this level of uncertainty creates ongoing political, cultural, economic chaos that cannot be helpful at a time when New Caledonia’s economy has been very badly damaged by weeks of rioting and clashes between police and protesters,” he added.

New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has said the Pacific as a whole should be concerned about ongoing unrest in New Caledonia.

The Pacific Islands Forum has been in direct contact with New Caledonia to discuss how to address this issue.

Peters said he hoped a plan was in place ahead of the Forum Leaders’ Meeting in Nuku’alofa next month.

“The long term Pacific future is all of our business. We have to hope that before we get to Tonga that there has been some sort of guideline of how we might go forward,” he said.

“Our view is that we have to ensure that there is a solution where we can help — help to rebuild if we can.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

More armoured vehicles and firetrucks have been delivered for Kanaky New Caledonia’s security forces, including police and firemen.

The France-freighted shipment consignment arrived aboard a cargo vessel, the Calao, the French High Commission announced on Thursday.

It contained 10 more armoured vehicles for the security forces, as well as 15 other vehicles said to benefit local firefighters.

The fire-fighting trucks will be delivered to the local Civil Security department.

“This is to pursue efforts to secure [New Caledonia] . . . It will be used to renew or replace equipment that has been damaged, including trucks and armoured vehicles,” French High Commissioner in New Caledonia Louis Le Franc said during a media briefing.

The 10 new armoured vehicles, known as Centaur, will be added to six others that were already deployed in New Caledonia since last month.

On board the same vessel, another batch of light armoured vehicles, dedicated to “exploration”, are described as bearing “reinforced windows” to protect passengers against bullets.

While efforts are ongoing to remove the numerous roadblocks in Nouméa and its suburbs, in the Northern Province, three French gendarmes have been injured and sustained bone fractures after their car was targeted and hit by a vehicle used by rioters, the French High Commission said.

One of the gendarmes has since been medically evacuated.

The incident took place in Houaïlou, in the north of the main island of Grande Terre.

Earlier incidents, especially in urban areas, involved home-made Viet Minh-like traps such as manhole covers being removed and dissimulated under branches, while sharp iron rods had been sealed inside the hole.

Several gendarmes who were tricked and fell into the hidden hole suffered serious injuries to the legs.

In other instances, especially on the roadblocks where French security forces are still trying to clear traffic access, gas bottles have been converted into explosive devices after being fitted with homemade remote-controlled detonators.

Saint Louis church presbytery destroyed by fire
Over the past few days, another hot point has been the village of Saint Louis, in the township of Mont-Dore (near Nouméa), where one rioter was killed earlier this week after firing gunshots to the gendarmes, who later retorted.

The death toll from the unrest is now 10.

On Thursday night, Saint Louis’s Catholic Mission, which had been set up in 1860 by the Marists, was set on fire and the presbytery (which had been occupied by rioters for the past few days) has been completely destroyed.

The Marist Brothers and Sisters had earlier been evacuated by French security forces.

Violent unrest has been ongoing in New Caledonia since mid-May, when riots, looting, arson, broke out.

This was initially in protest against a French government project to amend the Constitution and modify the rules of eligibility for local elections, a change perceived by the pro-independence movement as a bid to dilute the political strength of indigenous Kanak voters.

The riots, the worst since a quasi civil war erupted during the second half of the 1980s, have since caused the deaths of eight civilians and two French gendarmes.

Several hundred businesses and private residences were also set on fire and destroyed, for a total cost of some 2.2 billion euros (NZ$3.9 billion), according to the latest estimates.

As a result, several thousand employees have lost their jobs.

Two indicted women released – in home detention

Last month, a group of pro-independence activists was indicted and flown to metropolitan France, where they are now serving pre-trial detention in several jails.

They are facing a range of charges, revolving around allegations of “organised crime”.

The arrests prompted a fresh upsurge in violence.

Last Wednesday, the only two women in the group, Frédérique Muliava (chief-of-staff of pro-independence figure and New Caledonia Congress President Roch Wamytan) and Brenda Wanabo (described as communications officer of the controversial pro-independence “CCAT” – field actions coordination cell) have been allowed to leave their jail, located respectively in Riom (near Clermont-Ferrand) and Dijon (eastern France).

Pending their trial before a French court, the two will however remain under home detention in the same cities and wearing electronic monitoring bracelets.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Riots in Kanaky New Caledonia claimed their 10th victim yesterday.

The death took place as a result of an exchange of fire between a group of rioters in the village of Saint Louis (near the capital Nouméa) and French gendarmes, local news media reported.

Nouméa Public Prosecutor Yves Dupas yesterday confirmed the incident and the fatality, saying the victim had opened fire on the French gendarmes, who then returned fire.

Gunfire exchanges had also been reported on the previous day, since French security forces had arrived on site.

A group of armed snipers were reported to have entered the Church of Saint Louis, including the victim who was reported to have opened fire, aiming at the gendarmes from that location.

The victim is described as the nephew of prominent pro-independence politician and local territorial Congress president Roch Wamytan.

Wamytan is also the Great Chief of Saint Louis and a prominent figure of the hard-line pro-independence party Union Calédonienne (UC).

On Sunday, during an election night live broadcast, he told public television NC la 1ère that “as the High Chief of Saint Louis and as President of the Congress, I find what is going on in Saint Louis really regrettable”.

“We will try to address the situation in the coming days,” he said.

On Sunday night, French gendarmes had to evacuate two resident religious sisters from the Saint Louis Marist Mission after armed rioters threatened them at gunpoint and ordered them to leave.

It is the 10th name on the official death toll since violent riots broke out in New Caledonia on May 13.

The toll includes two French gendarmes.

French security forces had launched an operation in Saint Louis on Tuesday in a bid to restore law and order and dismantle several roadblocks and barricades erected by rioters in this area, known to be a pro-independence stronghold.

Car jacking
Several other incidents of car jacking had also been reported near the Saint Louis mission over the past few days on this portion of the strategic road leading to the capital Nouméa.

The incidents have been described by victims as the stealing of vehicles, threats at gunpoint, humiliation of drivers and passengers, and — in some cases — burning the vehicles.

Some of the victims later declared they had been ordered to take off their clothes.

Nearby Mont-Dore Mayor Eddie Lecourieux strongly condemned the actions as “unspeakable” and “unjustifiable”.

On Tuesday evening, another incident involved the burning of one of the maritime ferries – used by many as an alternate means to reach Nouméa.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Fresh clashes in New Caledonia have erupted in the suburbs of Nouméa between security forces and pro-independence protesters who oppose a nickel pact offering French assistance to salvage the industry.

The clashes, involving firearms, teargas and stone-throwing, went on for most of yesterday, blocking access roads to the capital Nouméa, as well as the nearby townships of Saint-Louis and Mont-Dore.

Traffic on the Route Provinciale 1 (RP1) was opened and closed several times, including when a squadron of French gendarmes intervened to secure the area by firing long-range teargas.

The day began with tyres being burnt on the road and then degenerated into violence from some balaclava-clad members of the protest group, who started throwing stones and sometimes using firearms and Molotov cocktails, authorities alleged.

Security forces said one of their motorbike officers, a woman, was assaulted and her vehicle was stolen.

Two of the protesters were reported to have been arrested for throwing stones.

Banners were deployed, some reading “Kanaky not for sale”, others demanding that New Caledonia’s President Louis Mapou (pro-independence) resign.

Northern mining sites also targeted
Other incidents took place in the northern town of La Foa, in the small mining village of Fonwhary, near a nickel extraction site, where Société Le Nickel trucks were not allowed to use the road.

Mont-Dore Mayor Eddy Lecourieux told local Radio Rythme Bleu they had the right to demonstrate, “but they could have done that peacefully”.

“Instead, there’s always someone who starts throwing stones.”

At dusk, the Saint-Louis and Mont-Dore areas were described as under control, but security forces, including armoured vehicles, were kept in place.

“On top of that, there are more marches scheduled for this weekend,” Lecourieux said.

Pro-independence protesters oppose current plans to have a French Constitutional amendment endorsed by France’s two houses of Parliament.

As a first step of this Parliamentary process, last week, the Senate endorsed the text, but with some amendments.

Opposing marches
Pro-France movements also want to march on the same day in support of the amendment.

If endorsed, it would allow French citizens to vote at New Caledonia’s local elections, provided they have been residing there for an uninterrupted 10 years.

Pro-independent parties, however, strongly oppose the project, saying this would be tantamount to making indigenous Kanaks a minority at local polls, and would open the door to a “recolonisation” of New Caledonia through demographics.

A similar high-risk configuration of two marches took place on March 28 in downtown Nouméa, with more than 500 French security forces deployed to keep both groups away from each other.

French authorities are understood to be holding meeting after meeting to fine-tune the security setup ahead of the weekend.

Florent Perrin, the president of Mont-Dore’s “Citizens’ Association”, told media local residents were being “taken hostage” and the unrest “must cease”.

He urged political authorities to “make decisions on all political and economic issues” New Caledonia currently faces.

Perrin called on the local population to remain calm, but invited them to “individually lodge complaints” based on “breach of freedom of circulation”.

“On our side too, tensions are beginning to run high, so we have to remain calm and not respond to those acts of provocation,” he said.

In return, France is asking that New Caledonia’s whole nickel industry should undergo a far-reaching slate of reforms in order to make nickel less expensive and therefore more attractive on the world market.

The pact aims to salvage New Caledonia’s embattled nickel industry and its three factories — one in the north of the main island, Koniambo (KNS), and two in the south, Société le Nickel (SLN), a subsidiary of French giant Eramet, and Prony Resources.

KNS’ nickel-processing operations were put in “sleep”, non-productive mode in February after its major financier, Anglo-Swiss Glencore, said it could no longer sustain losses totalling 14 billion euros (NZ$25 billion) over the past 10 years, and that it was now seeking an entity to buy its 49 percent shares.

The other two companies, SLN and Prony, are also facing huge debts and a severe risk of bankruptcy due to the new nickel conditions on the world market, now dominated by new players such as Indonesia, which produces a much cheaper and abundant metal.

New ultimatum from Northern Province
On Tuesday, Northern province President Paul Néaoutyine added further pressure by threatening to suspend all permits for mining activities in his province’s nine sites, where southern nickel companies are also extracting.

In a release, Néaoutyine made references to payment guarantees deadlines on April 10 that had not been honoured by SLN.

It is understood SLN’s owner, Eramet, was scheduled to meet in a general meeting in Paris later on Tuesday.

The French pact — France is also a stakeholder in Eramet — would also help SLN provide longer-term guarantees.

Southern province President and Les Loyalists (pro-France) party leader Sonia Backès alleged on Tuesday that Néaoutyine wants to do everything he can to shut down SLN and block the nickel pact

“Now things are very clear — before it was all undercover; now it’s out in the open,” she said.

“Now we will do everything to maintain SLN, because this means 3000 jobs at stake.”

Congress dragging its feet
Yesterday, New Caledonia’s Congress was holding a meeting behind closed doors to again discuss the French pact.

The Congress decided to postpone its decision and, instead, suggested setting up a “special committee” to further examine the pact and the condition it is tied to, and more generally, “the nickel industry’s current challenges”.

Opponents to the agreement mainly argue that it would pose a risk of “loss of sovereignty” for New Caledonia on its precious metal resource.

They also consider the nickel industry stake-holding companies are not committing enough and that, instead, New Caledonia’s government is asked to raise up to US$80 million (NZ$132 million), mainly by way of new taxes imposed on taxpayers.

Last week, a group of Congressmen, mostly from pro-independence Union Calédonienne, one of the four components of the pro-independence FLNKS, with the backing of one pro-France party, Avenir Ensemble, had a motion adopted to postpone one more time the signing of the pact.

President Mapou defies pro-independence MPs
President Louis Mapou, himself from the pro-independence side, urged the supporters of the motion to “let [him] sign” last week during a Congress public sitting.

“Let’s do it . . .  Authorise us to go at it . . .  What are you afraid of?” he said.

“Are we afraid of our militants?”

Mapou said if there was no swift Congress response and support to sign the pact, for which he himself had asked the Congress for endorsement, he would “take [his] responsibility” and go ahead anyway.

“I will honour the commitment I made to the French State.”

He said if they wanted to to sanction him with a motion of no confidence to go ahead. He was not afraid of this.

Mapou also told the pro-independence side in Congress that he believed they khad ept postponing any Congress decision “because you want to engage in negotiations as part of [New Caledonia’s] political agreements”.

Last week, Backès, who expressed open support for Mapou’s “courage”, told Radio Rythme Bleu she and Mapou had both received death threats.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz