Directed by the French President Emmanuel MacronWednesday, to New CaledoniaMore than a week has passed since the outbreak of violence that the French archipelago, located in the South Pacific, has not witnessed in 40 years, and the situation has become “calmer.”
Macron’s visit was announced during the French Cabinet meeting, on Tuesday, at a time when there were many calls to postpone a constitutional amendment for those entitled to vote in the elections, which sparked riots that lasted a week in this archipelago that it colonized. France In the 19th century.
French government spokeswoman Prisca Thévenot said, according to a statement from the French Presidential Palace, that Macron’s plane took off on Tuesday evening, with the aim of forming a “delegation” without specifying its composition or objectives.
In turn, the French High Commissioner in the archipelago, Louis Lefran, announced that the night of Tuesday was “calmer than the previous night, despite the outbreak of two fires,” indicating that additional forces had been sent to curb the violence shaking the region, in protest against a draft constitutional amendment opposed by independence advocates.
Its agencies announced on the “X” platform the arrest of 22 people on Tuesday, and the deployment of permanent reinforcements in 3 neighborhoods in the Noumea region.
In an upscale neighborhood in Noumea that was not affected by riots, Jean, 57 years old, takes turns with his neighbors to guard a barrier aimed at preventing possible incursions, as he saw the arrival of the French president as “good news.”
“white flags”
Nine days after the start of the most serious violence the archipelago has witnessed in nearly 40 years, the situation remains fragile, and entire neighborhoods are still witnessing riots and cannot be easily reached.
On Wednesday morning, fires were still raging in some neighborhoods of the Noumea region, with a population of 170,000, including the Dokos industrial area.
The Noumea city administration said, “It is too early to estimate the comprehensive damage, because there are neighborhoods that official agencies cannot yet enter,” confirming that two schools and 300 cars in a car dealership burned during the night.
Since the start of the violence, 6 people have died, including two policemen, whose bodies were transported to the mainland on Monday. Since the start of the popular action on May 13, 84 members of the security forces have been injured, while the security forces have arrested 276 people and kept 248 in detention pending investigation.
While the risk of food and medicine shortages prevails in the greater Noumea region, Lovran confirmed that 21 large stores have reopened their doors, and will be gradually supplied with supplies.
The exceptional measures taken within the framework of imposing a state of emergency are still in effect, including a night curfew, a ban on gatherings, the transfer of weapons, the sale of alcohol, and a ban on the TikTok application.
Freedom defenders resorted to the Council of State, the highest administrative authority in France, which granted the government on Tuesday an additional 24 hours to justify the ban on this application and provide evidence of the role that the authorities say it plays in the context of the riots.
In evidence of the difficulty of controlling the security situation, the French Archipelago International Airport announced that it would remain closed to commercial flights until Saturday morning.
On Wednesday, the High Commission reported that about 100 tourists had been removed from New Caledonia, and Australia and New Zealand had allocated flights to return hundreds of their nationals stranded in the French archipelago.
Continuing packing
About 400 businesses and shops have been damaged in the Noumea region and surrounding towns since the riots began. At the checkpoints installed, mobilization remains strong despite the heavy deployment of security forces.
For their part, the main non-independence figures in the archipelago, in a press conference held in Noumea on Tuesday, called for continued consideration of the constitutional amendment, which is causing controversy and is supposed to be approved before the end of June.
New Caledonia MP Nicolas Metzdorf stressed that withdrawing the draft amendment “would be a grave mistake” and would support the position of “saboteurs and rioters.”
However, there were many calls from all political factions, even from the mayor of Noumea, who does not call for independence, to demand the postponement of this amendment, which would marginalize the voices of the indigenous Kanak population.
New Caledonia constitutes a strategic region for France in the South Pacific, because it seeks to strengthen its influence in the Asia-Pacific region and because of its richness in natural resources, especially nickel, which is an essential material in making military machinery.