05/18/2024 – 12:37
Protests have already left people dead and forced the imposition of a state of emergency. But when did France take possession of New Caledonia and how important is the archipelago? Who are the original peoples seeking independence? Separated by 16,500 kilometers, Paris and the French overseas territory of New Caledonia could not be much further apart. Last Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron changed travel plans to remain in the French capital to lead crisis management meetings in the South Pacific territory.
Since last week, the archipelago has been the scene of violent protests by separatists that have left at least six dead, hundreds injured and more than 200 arrested.
On Wednesday, France imposed a state of emergency in New Caledonia, announcing measures that include the deployment of members of the Armed Forces to the region, a nighttime curfew and the suspension of the TikTok video service. According to the French government, the last time measures of this type were imposed was in 1985.
When did New Caledonia become French?
New Caledonia is located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, about 1,300 kilometers off the coast of Australia. The territory comprises the main island of New Caledonia and several smaller islands.
British explorer James Cook was the first European to set foot on the site in 1774, more than 2,000 years after the archipelago began to be populated. The mountainous scenery of the northeastern part of the main island reminded Cook of his homeland, Scotland – Caledonia in Latin –, and that is how the island got the name it still bears today.
At the time, around 60,000 members of the original Kanak people, the largest ethnic group in the archipelago, lived on the island. With the arrival of Europeans, many of them ended up being forced to live on reservations.
In the following decades, sailors and Christian missionaries from the United Kingdom and France arrived and settled in New Caledonia.
In 1853, under the command of Napoleon III, France took formal possession of the island, which at first was used mainly as a penal colony. After nickel was discovered, mining began to be taken seriously, with the sector soon expanding to include copper extraction as well.
In 1887, France’s “Code de l’indigénat” (indigenous code) was applied to New Caledonia. This set of laws subjected the indigenous populations of French colonies to strict rules and denied them certain civil rights. Many Kanaks were enslaved and forced to work in New Caledonia or other parts of the world.
From the beginning, the Kanak people made several failed attempts to free themselves from colonial power. When the archipelago became a French overseas territory after World War II – as did some of France’s other Pacific and Caribbean colonies – the Kanaks of New Caledonia were granted French citizenship and gradually gained the right to vote.
Currently, the Kanaks represent around 40% of the population of New Caledonia, which is approximately 270 thousand inhabitants. The second largest group, with 24%, are people of European origin – mostly French.
Furthermore, the territory’s currency is pegged to the euro, and its citizens can vote in both French elections and European Parliament elections.
Continued demands for independence
Since the 1970s, New Caledonia has made continuous demands for independence, which are supported by large parts of the Kanak people. The United Nations also supported these demands, and in 1986 the UN General Assembly re-inscribed New Caledonia on its list of “non-self-governing territories”. In 1988, France agreed to grant New Caledonia more autonomy.
But the majority of the population – especially the descendants of French colonialists – want New Caledonia to remain part of France.
One of the reasons is economic: according to the government of neighboring Australia, the 1.5 billion euros that New Caledonia received from Paris in direct budget payments in 2020 represented around 20% of the territory’s overall economic output that year.
In the independence referendums held in 2018 and 2020, only 43.6% and 46.7% of participants voted in favor, respectively. Already in 2021, a new referendum was boycotted by independence parties, leading to a distorted result of almost 97% against.
Outraged by the new voting rights law
The indignation now expressed by many defenders of independence in New Caledonia arose after a constitutional reform recently approved by the French Parliament that extended the right to vote in regional elections to French people who have lived in the archipelago for more than ten years.
Until then, in addition to the original population, this right was reserved only for immigrants who had lived in the territory since before 1998 and their children. In other words, residents who arrived from mainland France or anywhere else in the last 25 years do not have the right to participate in local elections.
Macron has not yet signed the law. The protests are, therefore, an attempt to dissuade the president from proceeding with constitutional reform.
The pro-independence movement fears that the inclusion of so many new voters will dilute its own political weight. Opponents of the law say it will benefit pro-French politicians and marginalize the Kanaks, who have in the past suffered under strict segregationist policies and discrimination.
Geopolitical and economic interests
France, which is a nuclear power with the right to veto the UN Security Council, continues to see itself as a global power. Its armed forces have air and naval bases in New Caledonia, which are of geopolitical importance.
Furthermore, the natural resources of the archipelago are of great economic importance. In 2021, 190 thousand tons of nickel were extracted from the territory, according to United States estimates. In the world, only Indonesia, the Philippines and Russia produced more.
New Caledonia’s pro-independence movement has also received support from an unexpected ally, the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, which France has accused of interference.
In a recent article, the American outlet Politico said that Philippe Gomès, former head of government of New Caledonia, accused Azerbaijan of “actively financing the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front.” French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin made similar claims.
Azerbaijan has rejected allegations that it is behind recent unrest in New Caledonia.
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