Noumea: New Caledonia imposed a night-time curfew on Tuesday and protests against proposed electoral reforms in France’s Pacific region sparked overnight riots, with cars torched and shops looted.
At least two car dealerships and gas factory in capital Noumea was on fire, AFP reporters reported.
Several supermarkets also looted in Noumea and neighboring towns of Dumbea and Mont-Dore.
Starting late Monday, masked or hooded youth protesters occupied several roundabouts and confronted the police, who responded with deadly rounds. Police sources said several vehicles caught fire during the violent clashes.
A total of 36 people were arrested and 30 police officers were injured, authorities said.
The High Commission of the French State in New Caledonia said in a statement on Tuesday: “Last night in Noumea and neighboring municipalities there was and continues to be a very violent disturbance of public order.”
The commission said that there was a “massive mobilization of internal security and civil security forces” from the riots, but “there were no serious casualties among the public”.
“The High Commissioner strongly condemns this act of violence which has caused great harm to people and property.”
Demonstrators erupted in Paris on Monday as they protested constitutional reforms aimed at expanding the electorate in regional provincial elections.
Under the agreement, New Caledonia held three referendums on its relationship with France, all of which rejected independence.
Local pro-independence Kanaks rejected the results of the last referendum in December 2021, which they boycotted due to the Covid pandemic.
The Noumea agreement also means that New Caledonia’s Electoral list has not been updated since 1998 – meaning islanders who came from mainland France or elsewhere in the past 25 years are not eligible to participate in provincial elections.
The French government called the one-in-five abstention “absurd”, and separatists feared that expanding the electoral roll would benefit pro-French politicians and “further diminish the indigenous Kanak people”.
After the night of unrest, the New Caledonia High Commission announced a ban on public gatherings and the sale of alcohol and said a curfew would be in place from 6pm on Tuesday until 6am on Wednesday.
Schools and colleges remain closed until further notice and international airports are also closed.
“The High Commissioner urges people to stay at home and limit their travel in the near future.”
New Zealand said on Tuesday that Foreign Minister Winston Peters had canceled a visit to New Caledonia because of the unrest.
During a visit to the country last year, President Emmanuel Macron said he wanted New Caledonia to have a revised constitutional status by early 2024.
Macron sought to reaffirm his country’s importance in the Pacific, where China and the United States compete for influence, but France has territories such as New Caledonia and French Polynesia.
