It’s not major international news since the war in Gaza has consumed news cycles, even more so since the United States has cut off arms shipments to the Jewish state over the Rafah operation, along with the United Nations’ International Court of Justice and the equally feeble International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and what’s left of Hamas’ leadership. This crisis centers on the French territory of New Caledonia in the South Pacific, off the coast of Australia, where the native Kanak population is ready to go to war over a new measure passed in the French parliament over voting rights in the region.
The bill would tweak the French Constitution and grant more voting rights to the descendants of French colonists living on the archipelago. There’s also the question of independence, which has been rejected three times through past referendums. Yet, the recent proposal is what set off a string of violent riots that’s led to hundreds of arrests and several deaths. France declared a state of emergency in the region on May 15 and deployed more troops to quell the violence. France considers New Caledonia of vital strategic interest due to its location and its vast reserves of nickel which many claim rightly could fall under Chinese control (via NYT):
France’s government declared a state of emergency in New Caledonia on Wednesday as it struggled to quell deadly riots in the semiautonomous French Pacific territory.
The French authorities have undertaken what they called a “massive” mobilization of security forces since violent protests broke out in New Caledonia this week over a proposed amendment to the French Constitution that would change local voting rules in the territory. A vote in France’s Parliament approving the amendment on Tuesday ignited the deadly riots overnight.
“The priority is to restore order, calm and serenity,” Gabriel Attal, France’s prime minister, told lawmakers…
The French government said that more than 1,800 security officers were already in the territory and that 500 reinforcements would arrive in the next 24 hours. At a crisis meeting, Mr. Attal said that the army was being deployed to secure ports and the airport.
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The proposed constitutional change — which expands French citizens’ eligibility to vote in provincial elections — touched a fresh nerve. Pro-independence activists in New Caledonia expressed fears that it would water down their movement and reflected a more aggressive attempt by the French government to assert its will over the territory.
New Caledonia is a crucial foothold for France in the Indo-Pacific region, and French officials have warned that an independent New Caledonia, flush with vast territorial waters and nickel, could quickly fall under China’s sway.
On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron visited the islands, where he disclosed a new plan to bring calm to the region. It could end with yet another independence referendum. It also seems like the new constitutional changes that would grant more voting rights to French descendants might be delayed. As for the increased troop presence, Macron declared they’re staying “as long as necessary” (via Associated Press):
French President Emmanuel Macron said … on a visit to riot-hit New Caledonia that he won’t force through the contested voting reform that sparked the French Pacific territory’s deadly unrest, saying he wants local leaders to come up with an alternate agreement for the archipelago’s future.
Speaking after a day of meetings with leaders on both sides of New Caledonia’s bitter divide between Indigenous Kanaks who want independence and pro-Paris leaders who do not, Macron laid out a roadmap that he said could lead to another referendum for the territory.
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Both French houses of parliament in Paris have already approved the overhaul. The next step was to have been a special Congress of both houses meeting in Versailles to implement it by amending France’s Constitution. That had been expected by the end of June. But Macron’s comments in the New Caledonian capital, Nouméa, suggested he’s now willing to change tack and buy more time for an alternate deal, perhaps more palatable to pro-independence leaders who fear the electoral change will marginalize Kanak voters.
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The unrest continued to simmer as Macron jetted in, despite a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and more than 1,000 reinforcements for the archipelago’s police and gendarmes, now 3,000 strong.
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“I will be very clear here. These forces will remain as long as necessary. Even during the Olympic Games and Paralympics,” which open in Paris on July 26, Macron said.
Let’s see what happens.
