Using armored vehicles and backhoes to clear charred barricades, French security forces worked on Sunday to regain control of the highway leading to the international airport in New Caledonia, devastated by violence and closed because of deadly turmoil destroying the French Pacific archipelago, where indigenous peoples have long sought independence from France.
An eventual reopening of Nouméa-La Tontouta airport to commercial flights could allow stranded tourists to escape the island, where armed clashes, arson, looting and other chaos have led France to impose a state of emergency. The airport, with routes to Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and other destinations, closed Tuesday as protests against electoral reforms opposed by pro-independence supporters degenerated into widespread violence, leaving a vast trail of destruction.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, posting on the social media platform 40 miles) northwest. He said more than 600 police officers had been mobilized. The number speaks to the difficulty of clearing charred debris from roads and barricades erected by pro-independence protesters and residents who have come together to try to protect homes and livelihoods from rioters and looters.
The police effort to reopen the airport road cleared almost 60 barricades on the first day, French authorities in New Caledonia published on X.
The French High Commission, in a statement, described the night from Saturday to Sunday as “calmer”, but also spoke of two fires and the looting of a gas station, without giving details. Security forces were granted emergency powers, including house arrest for people considered a threat to public order and expanded leeway to carry out searches, seize weapons and restrict movements, with possible prison sentences for offenders.
The High Commission also said that 230 people it described as protesters had been detained.
Nouméa mayor Sonia Lagarde told French broadcaster BFMTV on Sunday that full cleaning of the airport road could take “days and days” because of “a huge amount of burnt car carcasses”.
“The situation is still dramatic,” she said.
General Nicolas Matthéos, head of the archipelago’s gendarmes public order force, said some barricades were booby-trapped with gas canisters and reinforced with “vehicle walls.”
On Saturday, French authorities reported a sixth death in the violence, following an exchange of gunfire at a barricade in the north of the main island, in Kaala-Gomen.
There have been decades of tensions between indigenous Kanaks seeking independence and descendants of colonizers wanting to remain part of France.
The unrest broke out on Monday as the French legislature in Paris debated amending the French constitution to make changes to New Caledonia’s voter lists. The National Assembly in Paris has approved a bill that will, among other changes, allow residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years to vote in provincial elections.
Opponents fear the measure will benefit pro-French politicians in New Caledonia and further marginalize the Kanaks, who once suffered from strict policies of segregation and widespread discrimination.
