SYDNEY (AP) — The governments of Australia and New Zealand announced Tuesday they would send planes to evacuate their citizens from New Caledonia ravaged by violence.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has confirmed that Australia has received permission from French authorities for two flights to evacuate citizens and other tourists from New Caledonia, amid violent unrest that has ravaged the French archipelago in the Pacific, where indigenous peoples have long sought freedom from France.
“We continue to work on other 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 on Tuesday that it was sending a plane to evacuate 50 of its nationals 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 had a difficult few days – and getting them home has been an urgent priority for the Government,” Foreign Minister Winston Peters said.
“In cooperation with France and Australia, we are working on other flights in the coming days.”
At least six people have died and hundreds more have been injured in New Caledonia since violence erupted last week following controversial electoral reforms adopted in Paris.
Some 270 rioters were arrested on Tuesday and a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew was in effect for the archipelago of around 270,000 inhabitants.
France has sent more than a thousand security agents, with hundreds more expected to arrive on Tuesday, to try to quell the unrest and restore control.
Armed clashes, looting, arson and other chaos have transformed parts of the capital, Nouméa, into no-go zones. With columns of smoke rising into the sky, burned-out carcasses littered the roads, businesses and stores were ransacked and buildings became smoldering ruins.
There have been decades of tension between indigenous Kanak people seeking independence and descendants of colonizers who wish to remain in France.
The unrest broke out on May 13 as the French Parliament was debating an amendment to the French Constitution in Paris to make changes to New Caledonia’s electoral rolls. The National Assembly in Paris approved a bill that would, 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 New Caledonia’s pro-French politicians and further marginalize Kanaks who once suffered from strict segregation policies and widespread discrimination.
News Source : apnews.com
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