what we know about the situation in the archipelago, where a curfew has been established

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Urban violence began on Monday, on the sidelines of a pro-independence mobilization against the constitutional reform examined in the National Assembly. Many factories, businesses and businesses were burned, roads blocked and dozens of gendarmes and police officers injured.

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A mother and her daughter in front of burned cars in a parking lot after urban violence in the Belle Vie shopping center in Nouméa, New Caledonia, May 14, 2024. (THEO ROUBY / AFP)

Burnt vehicles, looted stores, shootings… Urban violence took place on the night of Monday May 13 to Tuesday May 14 in New Caledonia against the constitutional reform currently being examined in the National Assembly, which wants to expand the body electoral of the archipelago. The first altercations began on Monday, on the sidelines of a pro-independence mobilization against this text. Opponents fear that he will come “further minimize the indigenous Kanak people”.

Dozens of shops, factories and businesses were burned and several supermarkets were looted in Nouméa, the capital. Demonstrators also set up on several roundabouts and operated filter barriers. At least 82 people were arrested, announced Tuesday morning the Minister of the Interior and Overseas Territories, Gérald Darmanin and a curfew was also decreed, while local government calls “to reason and calm”. Here is what we know about the situation.

Roads blocked, dozens of buildings burned

The streets of Nouméa and its suburbs are strewn with the remains of burned cars and the smoking remains of tires and pallets on Tuesday, after a night of riots. Nouméa firefighters say they have received nearly 1,500 calls and intervened on around 200 fires. According to an employers’ group cited by AFP, around thirty shops, factories and other businesses were set on fire. In the Noumean suburbs, a supermarket, forced to ram, was looted by the population. Images from New Caledonia The 1st shows a Super U from Rivière-Salée ravaged by flames.

Detonations were heard late Tuesday afternoon near the towers of Magenta, the emblematic city of Nouméa. In the northern districts of the capital, the High Commissioner of the Republic in New Caledonia deplored “destruction of businesses, pharmacies and homes”. “We have unfortunately observed exfiltration of residents from their homes only to have their homes burned down”declared Louis Le Franc during a press conference. The New Caledonian Federation of Industrialists announced that it would launch “a participatory platform which will include a pot to create a fund for the reconstruction of New Caledonian industries.“

The authorities were particularly attentive to the situation in a burned factory located at the entrance to Nouméa and in which around thirty rioters were holed up. “We urge them to leave the premises, due to the imminent risk of explosion” of two hydrogen tanks located on the site, explained Louis Le Franc.

Many barricades were still in place on the roads late Tuesday afternoon. According to Nouvelle-Calédonie La 1ère, the mobilization on the road and the bridge which runs along the La Coulée park, in the commune of Mont-Dore, is still in progress. A police van is positioned across the road and occasional confrontations take place with demonstrators. Residents in the area said they had no water since the beginning of the afternoon after a valve broke. In Ouémo, a district of Nouméa, around a hundred residents came together to set up a filter barrier at the entrance to the peninsula and only let the inhabitants of the district pass.

“Shooting with large caliber weapons” reported

High Commissioner Louis Le Franc reported “tense shots with large caliber weapons, long-range rifles, on the gendarmes” during the violence in Mont-Dore, southeast of Nouméa. “We have no deaths, there are no serious injuries at the moment, there could have been somehe declared at a press conference. Every cause deserves to be defended politically, but it does not deserve to be defended by taking deadly actions against the gendarmes, against the inhabitants, in the urban area of ​​Nouméa.”

Around fifty gendarmes and police officers injured

The Raid, four squadrons of mobile gendarmes and two sections of CRS 8, a unit specializing in the fight against urban violence, were mobilized. Fifteen GIGN reinforcements must also be sent to Nouméa. “We have been confronted for more than 24 hours with a real outburst of hatred, an outpouring of young people, often drunk, clearly manipulated and of quite incredible violence”lamented General Nicolas Matthéos, commander of the New Caledonia gendarmerie.

Gérald Darmanin reported Tuesday morning that 82 people were arrested and 54 gendarmes and police officers injured. “Families of gendarmes were evacuated”specified the Minister of the Interior and Overseas Territories.

The airport, high schools and colleges closed

The New Caledonian government has announced the closure of high schools and colleges until further notice. The international airport is also closed and the Aircalin company suspended its flights for Tuesday. A “maximum rotations will be put in place, according to an adapted program, for the day of Wednesday May 15, only if all security conditions are met and depending on the evolution of the situation“, said the airline, cited by Nouvelle-Calédonie La 1ère.

Gatherings prohibited, curfew decreed

A curfew was decreed from Tuesday 6 p.m. (since 9 a.m. in Paris) and until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Any gathering is also prohibited in Greater Nouméa, as is the carrying of weapons and the sale of alcohol throughout New Caledonia. The high commission encourages the 270,000 inhabitants of the territory to stay at home.

Alone staff involved in a public service mission and essential nighttime activities, travel linked to compelling reasons of health, medical emergency or assistance to vulnerable people or force majeure, andhe medical professions are authorized to travel, specifies Nouvelle-Calédonie La 1ère.

Authorities and representatives call for “calm”

Louis Mapou, pro-independence president of the government of New Caledonia, called in a press release “calm and reason”. “All the reasons for discontent, frustration and anger cannot justify undermining or destroying what the country has been able to build for decades and mortgaging the future”, did he declare. High Commissioner Louis Le Franc asked independence leaders “to use all the influence that is theirs to put an end to what has been observed over the past 48 hours.”

The National Council of Grand Chiefs, Inaat ne Kanaky, a body composed of Kanak leaders, also called “youth in peace”, while calling on the State to “his responsibilities”. He asks French parliamentarians “to demonstrate lucidity and wisdom in order to avoid the conflagration of the situation and chaos in the country.” The mayor of Nouméa, Sonia Lagarde, for her part, ordered people not to “not give in to provocation”. “I understand that it can be irritating, we want to go there, but I think everyone needs to calm down, because that’s not how we’re going to build”she said, cited by Nouvelle-Calédonie La 1ère.


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