“I don’t understand why people who don’t live here are discussing our fate.”
A 52-year-old indigenous Kanak man who gave his name only as Mike was speaking from a checkpoint just north of New Caledonia’s capital, hours before the French president’s arrival in a Pacific region that has been paralyzed by violent protests.
The protests, sparked by voting reforms proposed by the French parliament, began on May 13. Looting, arson and clashes have left six people dead, hundreds injured and caused widespread damage. The unrest comes amid underlying concerns about inequality and years of efforts to secure independence for New Caledonia.
Mike said the voices of local Kanak people were “not being heard”.
Macron’s hasty visit was, in the words of his own adviser, a “double-down or give up… gamble.”
But even as he called for a meeting across political divides and acknowledged that inequalities had grown, his words were also thought-provoking.
“The restoration of republican order is the top priority,” he stressed.
He left New Caledonia after an 18-hour stay, saying reforms that would give tens of thousands of non-indigenous people the right to vote would not be forced through but promising to review the situation within a month.
At the road blockade, protesters say a delay is not enough and the reforms should be reversed.
“I’m disappointed by President Macron’s comments,” a 51-year-old Kanak man said at the checkpoint on Friday.
“We are in the exact same situation. Instead of taking a strong stance to calm things down, he continues to make it worse.”
“The solution will not come from the state, but from Caledonians,” Jean-Pierre Chauy, an activist and member of the pro-independence FLNKS movement, told French television from New Caledonia ahead of the president’s visit.
Macron said security forces would stay as long as necessary, but FLNKS spokesman Jimmy Nauna argued that the current presence of more than 3,000 French security forces on the ground, mainly in and around Noumea, was making the situation worse.
“We can’t keep sending in the military just to quell protests because that will only invite more protests,” he told ABC’s Pacific Beat.
“What are we doing here, sending in the army? This is not a war-torn country. We are not terrorists as they say,” said Joseph, an activist stationed at a checkpoint in Doumbea, north of Noumea.
Nauna said the current fires in New Caledonia were a “political situation that requires a political solution”.
But with barricades erected around the territory and major roads and infrastructure blocked, activists are making it clear that there is also an economic and social dimension to these protests — and that Kanak anger with the government is not limited to voting reform.
The young man says, “I’m ready to die.”
Lele, 41, is not affiliated with any political party but is very active on social media, reporting to the world what is happening in New Caledonia.
“The Kanak people are not being truly valued. They want a fair redistribution of wealth. What we are asking Macron to do is to recognise the legitimacy of the Kanak people,” Lele said.
While many Kanaks do not condone the recent violence, just as many understand the anger of disillusioned young people.
“We hear young people saying they are ready to die at the checkpoints… it shows how deeply their dignity is being violated,” said Jamil, who is married to a Kanak woman and sympathizes with the independence movement.
“Macron is stuck in his opinion. He doesn’t have a good grasp of what is actually going on. It’s a big mistake to have led the country into a quagmire.”
The French president’s immediate task was to propose electoral reform, but the archipelago is marked by stark inequality: the largest community, the indigenous Kanak people, have a poverty rate of 32.5 percent, compared to 9 percent for non-Kanak people, according to the 2019 census.
The disparities are even more stark when it comes to education and employment statistics: Only 8% of Kanaks have college degrees, and 46% lack a high school diploma. Meanwhile, 54% of people of European descent have a college education, but that number drops to 24% for people of mixed race, the 2019 census showed.
“The rebalancing has not reduced economic and social inequalities, it has even increased them,” Macron said Thursday, apparently referring to past efforts to expand opportunity.
The struggle over New Caledonia’s independence process remains largely deadlocked.
In a referendum held between 2018 and 2021, the majority of voters chose for New Caledonia to remain part of France rather than supporting independence. Pro-independence supporters rejected the results of the previous referendum held in 2021. They boycotted this vote because it was held during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pro-independence supporters called on Kanak people not to take part in the vote, claiming that COVID-19 made it impossible to campaign for independence as entire villages were holding traditional mourning ceremonies.
Three referendums have been held under the 1998 Nouméa Agreement with France, and the third referendum in 2021 marks the culmination of that process. A previous referendum on independence in 1987 also ended in failure.
Under the 1998 agreement, new arrivals in New Caledonia were barred from registering to vote in order to maximise the voting rights of Kanaks. Following the referendum result, the French government finally moved to grant voting rights to long-term residents born abroad.
Nevertheless, many Kanak people in New Caledonia continue to seek independence.
“We welcome Macron but he is not our president,” said Axel, 21, who describes himself as a “Kanaki”, the name given to the country by New Caledonian independence fighters.
Axel said the protesters would bring to an end a 30-year-old struggle that has seen violent unrest in the territory.
“Those who respect the Kanak people can live in peace with us,” a 51-year-old Kanak protester said Friday.
“Without independence, there is no security.”
With distributors
