After disturbances in the capital continued, Australians are being advised to travel to New Caledonia with extreme caution.
According to the French president’s office, following reports that at least two people were murdered and three more gravely injured, the government is thinking of declaring a state of emergency in the Pacific region.
Top officials are reportedly meeting with President Emmanuel Macron to talk about the rising violence.
Following protests that broke out in the country on Monday over a referendum, the nation’s La Tontouta International Airport is still blocked to commercial aircraft.
The protests and demonstrations have led Australia’s Smart Traveller to raise its recommendations for the Noumea metropolitan area to level two.
Roadblocks, public meetings, and demonstrations are discouraged for Australians since they are impromptu and may turn violent, according to the statement.
This was the third day of bloody turmoil over a constitutional amendment that Paris was pushing, upsetting the archipelago that has long desired independence.
In the decades-long conflict between native Kanaks seeking independence and descendants of colonists desiring to stay in France, violence has erupted throughout the archipelago, resulting in over 130 arrests and over 300 injuries since Monday, according to French authorities in the region.
The country is a well-liked vacation destination for Australians, and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) stated that it is under observation. “We are closely monitoring the situation in New Caledonia,” said DFAT.
“Australia cherishes its relationships with the French State and New Caledonia. “We encourage all parties to work together constructively to shape New Caledonia’s institutional future.” The turmoil has resulted in the cancellation of certain flights from Australia.
The country was scheduled to receive Aircalin flight SB151 from Brisbane at 11:15 p.m. tonight, however the trip was cancelled. Also cancelled was Qantas flight QF91 from Sydney.
A curfew was in place, although the High Commission of the Republic in New Caledonia had acknowledged that rioting were still going on in Greater Nouméa.
The High Commission released an English-language statement in French that stated, “Many fires and looting of businesses, infrastructure and public establishments – including several schools and colleges – were perpetrated.”
“More than 130 arrests took place and several dozen rioters were taken into custody and will be brought before the courts.” Approximately sixty police officers had been hurt, according to the report, but their “commitment and professionalism” were commendable.
The commission confirmed that there had been another attempt at a rebellion escape at their prison, but that it had been overrun by security personnel.
Yesterday, a curfew was implemented from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., and the same regulations will be in effect until Thursday morning.
Carrying weapons, selling alcohol, and hosting gatherings are all prohibited. The committee stated, “The population is asked to limit their movements during the day.”
“Exceptions to the ban on movement during the curfew will be tolerated for compelling health reasons, medical emergencies and assistance to vulnerable people.”
A hundred gendarmes were evacuated after nocturnal fighting, according to Interior Minister and Minister of Overseas Territories Gérald Darmanin, after “an attack on their station with an axe and live ammunition.”
Darmanin stated, “Calm must absolutely be restored,” during an interview with RTL, a French station.
Tuesday saw the deployment of police reinforcements by the French Interior Ministry to New Caledonia, the French military base that was formerly a prison colony.
At a press conference in New Caledonia, the territory’s highest French official, High Commissioner Louis Le Franc, announced that 700 police officers, 1,000 gendarmes, and twelve experts from a specialised police intervention and riot control team had been mobilised.
In an interview with France Info, Le Franc stated that during the nighttime turmoil, two individuals lost their lives and three suffered serious injuries.
He issued a warning earlier on Wednesday, stating that there would be “many deaths” in the Nouméa region if peace is not restored. Le Franc stated, “The situation is not serious, it is very serious.”
“We have entered a dangerous spiral, a deadly spiral.”
“Self-defence groups” have been formed by certain capital residents, he said, to defend their residences and places of business.
The unrest began on Monday with a demonstration against France’s attempts to broaden voting lists in order to support pro-France politicians in New Caledonia and further marginalise the Kanak people, who had previously experienced severe discrimination and draconian segregation laws.
With 351 parliamentarians voting in favour of the bill and 153 against, the French National Assembly endorsed a constitutional change early on Wednesday that would restructure the electoral body in the region.
Representatives in favour of independence urged followers to remain composed and denounced the decision made by the National Assembly, the most powerful chamber of parliament in France.
Following the vote, Macron also urged composure and denounced “unworthy violence” in a letter to political parties and Caledonian representatives.
He invited all of the local politicians to have a discussion and offer recommendations for how to improve the measure.
In the absence of a substantive conversation with local representatives, Macron declared he would call a joint session of the French parliament’s two houses, known as the Congress, by the end of June in order to revise and enact changes to the constitution.
The law would let voters to participate in provincial elections if they had been residents of New Caledonia for ten years.
In New Caledonia, people of European heritage make a distinction between the descendants of the many convicts who were forcibly transported to the region and the descendants of the colonists.
Ten time zones ahead of Paris lies the enormous archipelago, home to around 270,000 people, east of Australia.
