Six days, six deaths, hundreds of injuries, and a state of emergency. New Caledonia, a French archipelago in the mid-Pacific, endures its most tense moment after the National Assembly approved a broadening of the electoral census, granting more voting rights to non-native residents.
One reform that does not sit well with the Kanak, the indigenous people of the territory, who fear losing influence in elections, has sparked an insurrection-like atmosphere. The French president has convened two crisis meetings in less than a week. The first, held last Wednesday, approved a state of emergency across the archipelago, and the second, on Monday, announced that additional troops would be deployed to safeguard public spaces.
Ahead of the curfew and other restrictions, looting and armed clashes continue, forcing the government to deploy more than 1,500 police and gendarmes in the area to try to restore order.
This conflict, far from remaining on territorial soil, has spilled over borders and reached as far as Azerbaijan. France’s Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin, publicly alleged that Azerbaijan, along with China and Russia, is backing the rising tensions in New Caledonia. “This is not a fantasy. It is a reality,” Darmanin said on a national broadcast, pointing to Azeri flags seen at recent protests and public support from the Baku Initiative Group, which backs anti-colonial movements opposed to France. Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry spokesperson rejected the claims, stating that there is no link between the leaders of the Caledonian independence movement and Azerbaijan.
The dispute between Paris and New Caledonia reopen old wounds and heighten fears that the peace reached in the 1980s could unravel. One veteran negotiator of the 1988 Matignon Accords warned that history might be repeating itself, a view echoed by other experts who say these are the worst disturbances since the 1980s and emphasize the ethnic dimension of the conflict, which had for years been considered settled by the peace agreements.
Reform that endsanger the peace
The new text, pushed by Interior and Overseas Minister Gérald Darmanin and approved last Wednesday by France’s National Assembly with 351 votes in favor and 153 against, threatens the calm. The reform seeks to give greater voting rights to French residents who have lived in the territory for more than ten years. Until now, only those who lived there before 1998 and their children could register as voters.
Independentists argue that the reform would dilute native influence, as non-native residents form a growing minority. In recent years, between 2018 and 2021, New Caledonia held three referenda on independence, all of which were won by the “no” side, though the latest one was boycotted by separatists.
One resident described the strain: “My family is struggling to find food, but people’s solidarity keeps growing.” A young New Caledonian living in Paris spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for his family. Six days of clashes and six deaths, including two gendarmes, have pushed New Caledonia into its tensest moment amid shortages of basic goods. The president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry reported that roughly 80 to 90 percent of food stores have been looted or destroyed.
Officials estimate about 3,200 people remain stranded after the main airport in the capital halted operations. They cannot enter or leave the territory, said the government spokesperson. The authorities have pointed to the separatist CCAT group as being behind the unrest, and several individuals have been placed under house arrest for encouraging violence.
Independentists issued a statement arguing that the clashes are the voice of the marginalized and the invisible, expressing a long-standing social injustice.
Archipelago colonized by France in the 19th century
The recent clashes evoke memories of the 1980s, when the territory teetered on the edge of civil war. Experts say the conflict found peace through the Matignon Accords in 1988, which officially recognized the Kanak people. A subsequent agreement in Nouméa granted a special status with substantial powers, except in military, police, and judicial areas. Today, independence-seekers argue that the freedoms promised by those accords are at risk again.
According to the latest figures from the local statistics institute, New Caledonia has about 41 percent native Kanak citizens and 24 percent European or Caldoche residents. The rest are from other territories and communities. Over the years, the native population has declined while the number of non-voters has grown under the current electoral law.
With the reform, the Institute of New Caledonian Statistics estimates that around 25,000 people could enroll on the electoral roll after proving ten years of residence. This is not the first expansion; in 1983, the Kanak people agreed to widen the census to Pacific-area inhabitants, but this time the change does not satisfy everyone. The mayor of Nouméa, Sonia Lagarde, has urged President Emmanuel Macron to delay the reform to calm tensions. “I knew this was going to explode. I don’t think I was heard. I’ve been mayor for ten years and worked hard to make this city a great place to live, yet I feel disappointed,” Lagarde told Le Monde.
Amid growing anger over recent weeks, longstanding social discontent in the region, with youth unemployment around 26 percent and the nickel crisis—the territory’s main economic lifeline—continues to bite. With the archipelago aflame, the two French parliament chambers will be responsible for approving, in a joint session, the new electoral law for New Caledonia.