SYDNEY (AP) — The governments of Australia and New Zealand announced Tuesday they were sending planes to evacuate their citizens from New Caledonia devastated by violence.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed that Australia has received authorization from French authorities for two flights to evacuate citizens and other tourists from New Caledonia amid the violent unrest plaguing the French Pacific archipelago, where indigenous people have long been seek independence from France.
“We continue to work on new flights,” Wong wrote on social media platform X on Tuesday.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said 300 Australians were in New Caledonia.
New Zealand also announced it would send a plane on Tuesday to evacuate 50 of its citizens from Noumea, the Pacific island capital, in the first of a series of proposed flights to bring its citizens home.
“New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days – and bringing them home has been an urgent priority for the government,” said Foreign Minister Winston Peters.
“In cooperation with France and Australia, we are working on follow-on flights in the coming days.”
At least six people have died and hundreds of others have been injured in New Caledonia since violence erupted last week following controversial electoral reforms approved in Paris.
Around 270 protesters had been arrested as of Tuesday, and a 6pm to 6am curfew was in effect for the archipelago of around 270,000 people.
France has deployed more than a thousand security officers, with hundreds more expected to arrive on Tuesday, as it tries to quell the unrest and restore control.
Armed conflicts, looting, arson and other chaos have turned parts of the capital, Nouméa, into no-go zones. With plumes of smoke rising into the sky, burned-out cars littered the roads, businesses and stores were looted and buildings were turned into smoking ruins.
There have been decades of tensions between indigenous Kanaks seeking independence and descendants of colonizers wanting to remain part of France.
Unrest broke out on 13 May when the French legislature in Paris debated amending the French constitution to make changes to New Caledonia’s voter lists. The National Assembly in Paris approved a bill that would allow, among other changes, 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.
