About 1,000 security personnel arrived from France to deal with the worst unrest in the region since the 1980s.
New Caledonian authorities said the situation in the French Pacific region was “calmed” after Paris declared a state of emergency following violence that erupted on Monday night over plans to change local voting rules.
Officials from the High Commission of New Caledonia, which represents the French state, said in a statement on Friday that unrest in the regional capital Nouméa had calmed down as hundreds of security forces arrived from Paris.
“For the first time since Monday, the situation in Nouméa metropolitan area has become calmer and more peaceful,” the commission said in a statement.
However, it added that fires broke out overnight at a school and two businesses.
Anger has raged for weeks over France’s plans to extend voting in New Caledonia to outsiders who have lived on the island for more than a decade, an easing of voting restrictions agreed after early political unrest in the 1980s. It’s smoldering.
The indigenous Kanak people, who make up about 40% of the population, fear the bill, adopted by the National Assembly in Paris on Wednesday, will weaken their vote and political influence.
Around 1,000 additional security personnel are expected in New Caledonia, on top of the 1,700 already in place, but authorities say they will push for “the harshest penalties for rioters and looters”. Five people were placed under house arrest on Thursday on suspicion of organizing riots that included road barricading, burning and looting of stores.
A second police officer was killed on Thursday, leaving at least five people dead since violence erupted on Monday. Three civilians, all Kanak, were also killed and hundreds injured.
The violence is the worst in the region in more than 30 years and follows the failure of three independence referendums that were part of an earlier political agreement to ensure stability. There is. The previous referendum, held in December 2021, was boycotted by Kanak separatists after it was held during the COVID-19 pandemic and had a turnout of just 44%.
Independence remains a popular cause in the region, which lies between Australia and Fiji and was colonized by France in the late 19th century.
The state of emergency will continue for 12 days, including a curfew and a ban on public gatherings.
