French authorities have grappled with a new spike in violence in the country’s overseas territories with security forces killing two men in New Caledonia and officials ordering a curfew after rioting in Martinique.
The fresh trouble comes at a sensitive time for France, where new Prime Minister Michel Barnier is struggling to form a government following snap parliamentary elections and has warned of a “very serious” financial situation.
During an overnight security operation in New Caledonia, two men were killed south of the capital Noumea, the public prosecutor said on Thursday, taking the death toll to 13 after months of unrest in the French Pacific territory.
Violence broke out in mid-May over Paris’s plan for voting reforms that Indigenous Kanak people fear would leave them in a permanent minority, crushing their chances of winning independence.
While unrest in the South Pacific territory has ebbed since mid-July, an AFP journalist witnessed new clashes erupt between French police and civilians in Saint-Louis, a heartland of the independence movement just south of Noumea.
On Thursday, public prosecutor Yves Dupas said security forces on an observation mission fired two shots after being “directly threatened by a group of armed individuals”.
The first “hit a man, aged 30, positioned as a lone gunman, in the right side of the abdomen,” Mr Dupas said in a statement.
“The second shot hit a man, aged 29, in the chest.”
‘We are not terrorists’
Police were looking for about a dozen people suspected of involvement in attacks on security forces.
“We’re not terrorists, we’re not in a state of war,” said one mother in the village where the security operation was taking place.
Jimmy Naouna, a New Caledonia government representative and pro-independence alliance member, said he hoped the deaths would not trigger more violence as the territory approached the symbolic date of September 24, the anniversary of the French takeover in 1853.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade earlier this week updated its travel advice on New Caledonia, saying demonstrations and protests may increase in the lead-up to the date, which is marked locally with the Citizenship Day public holiday.
The territory’s nightly curfew, previously 10pm to 5am, will be extended to 6pm to 6am between September 21 and 24.
Earlier this year, France sent thousands of troops and police to the archipelago, which is home to about 270,000 people and located nearly 17,000 kilometres from Paris.
In violence not seen since the near-civil war of the 1980s, hundreds of people were injured and the damage was estimated at about 2.2 billion euros ($3.6 billion).
The electoral change — which requires altering the French constitution — has effectively been in limbo since President Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament for new elections that in July produced a lower house with no clear majority.
The road to Saint-Louis in the south of the archipelago’s main island Grande Terre is closed.
For the 1,200 inhabitants of Saint-Louis, the only way in or out is by foot after presenting an ID at checkpoints.
Only emergency services and ambulances can otherwise cross into the village.
Almost all other roadblocks across New Caledonia have been lifted.
Authorities are also under pressure in the French Caribbean island of Martinique, home to about 350,000 people.
Officials ordered a curfew in several districts of Fort-de-France, the island’s main city, and next-door Lamentin, after violent cost-of-living protests.
The curfew, ordered on Wednesday evening, runs between 9pm to 5am and will remain in force until at least September 23.
A McDonald’s restaurant was set on fire this week.
The riots follow protests that began in early September over rising prices.
The prefect of Martinique, Jean-Christophe Bouvier, said authorities had made 15 arrests.
Eleven police officers were injured by gunfire, he said, adding that three rioters also sustained injuries.
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Violent protests erupted on the island last week over the high cost of living, with gunfire injuring at least six police officers and one civilian.
France has sent a group of special anti-riot police, which had been banned for 65 years, to the French Caribbean island of Martinique, where protesters have gathered despite the government barring demonstrations in parts of the island.
The force arrived at the weekend after the local representative of France’s central government said in a statement that protests were forbidden in the municipalities of Fort-de-France, Le Lamentin, Ducos and Le Robert until Monday. The government also issued a curfew.
The restrictions came after violent protests broke out on the island last week over the high cost of living, with gunfire injuring at least six police officers and one civilian. Police launched tear gas and government officials said several stores were also looted.
Officials said the bans were meant “to put an end to the violence and damage committed at gatherings, as well as to the numerous obstacles to daily life and freedom of movement that penalise the entire population, particularly at weekends”.
But the measure was met by defiance by many on the island, with massive peaceful protests breaking out Saturday night. Videos from local media show crowds of thousands peacefully walking along highways overnight banging on drums and waiving flags.
As protests wound on without violence, the force of French anti-riot police arrived on the island, and were staying at a hotel in Fort-de-France on Sunday. It wasn’t immediately clear how many were sent.
Who are the riot police?
The elite riot police, known as the Companies for Republican Security, were banned in the French territory following bloody riots in December 1959.
The unit had been accused of using disproportionate force against protesters, ending in the deaths of a number of young demonstrators. The force is rarely deployed in French territories in the Caribbean, but was called on during riots and strikes in Guadeloupe in 2009.
Martinique’s leaders requested the forces amid the recent protests in an historic shift for the island, and one met with a sharp rejection by some in the territory.
Béatrice Bellay, a representative of the socialist party on the island, blasted the move, saying: “Martinique is not in a civil war, it is a social war.” She called for an “open and transparent dialogue” between protesters and the government.
“This measure … only serves to aggravate tensions and distract attention from the legitimate demands of the people of Martinique,” she wrote in a statement Sunday.
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[Police operation kills two men in New Caledonia as fresh violence rocks French overseas territories](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-20/fresh-violence-rocks-french-overseas-territories/104374770)
French authorities have grappled with a new spike in violence in the country’s overseas territories with security forces killing two men in New Caledonia and officials ordering a curfew after rioting in Martinique.
The fresh trouble comes at a sensitive time for France, where new Prime Minister Michel Barnier is struggling to form a government following snap parliamentary elections and has warned of a “very serious” financial situation.
During an overnight security operation in New Caledonia, two men were killed south of the capital Noumea, the public prosecutor said on Thursday, taking the death toll to 13 after months of unrest in the French Pacific territory.
Violence broke out in mid-May over Paris’s plan for voting reforms that Indigenous Kanak people fear would leave them in a permanent minority, crushing their chances of winning independence.
While unrest in the South Pacific territory has ebbed since mid-July, an AFP journalist witnessed new clashes erupt between French police and civilians in Saint-Louis, a heartland of the independence movement just south of Noumea.
On Thursday, public prosecutor Yves Dupas said security forces on an observation mission fired two shots after being “directly threatened by a group of armed individuals”.
The first “hit a man, aged 30, positioned as a lone gunman, in the right side of the abdomen,” Mr Dupas said in a statement.
“The second shot hit a man, aged 29, in the chest.”
‘We are not terrorists’
Police were looking for about a dozen people suspected of involvement in attacks on security forces.
“We’re not terrorists, we’re not in a state of war,” said one mother in the village where the security operation was taking place.
Jimmy Naouna, a New Caledonia government representative and pro-independence alliance member, said he hoped the deaths would not trigger more violence as the territory approached the symbolic date of September 24, the anniversary of the French takeover in 1853.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade earlier this week updated its travel advice on New Caledonia, saying demonstrations and protests may increase in the lead-up to the date, which is marked locally with the Citizenship Day public holiday.
The territory’s nightly curfew, previously 10pm to 5am, will be extended to 6pm to 6am between September 21 and 24.
Earlier this year, France sent thousands of troops and police to the archipelago, which is home to about 270,000 people and located nearly 17,000 kilometres from Paris.
In violence not seen since the near-civil war of the 1980s, hundreds of people were injured and the damage was estimated at about 2.2 billion euros ($3.6 billion).
The electoral change — which requires altering the French constitution — has effectively been in limbo since President Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament for new elections that in July produced a lower house with no clear majority.
The road to Saint-Louis in the south of the archipelago’s main island Grande Terre is closed.
For the 1,200 inhabitants of Saint-Louis, the only way in or out is by foot after presenting an ID at checkpoints.
Only emergency services and ambulances can otherwise cross into the village.
Almost all other roadblocks across New Caledonia have been lifted.
Authorities are also under pressure in the French Caribbean island of Martinique, home to about 350,000 people.
Officials ordered a curfew in several districts of Fort-de-France, the island’s main city, and next-door Lamentin, after violent cost-of-living protests.
The curfew, ordered on Wednesday evening, runs between 9pm to 5am and will remain in force until at least September 23.
A McDonald’s restaurant was set on fire this week.
The riots follow protests that began in early September over rising prices.
The prefect of Martinique, Jean-Christophe Bouvier, said authorities had made 15 arrests.
Eleven police officers were injured by gunfire, he said, adding that three rioters also sustained injuries.
Violent protests erupted on the island last week over the high cost of living, with gunfire injuring at least six police officers and one civilian.
France has sent a group of special anti-riot police, which had been banned for 65 years, to the French Caribbean island of Martinique, where protesters have gathered despite the government barring demonstrations in parts of the island.
The force arrived at the weekend after the local representative of France’s central government said in a statement that protests were forbidden in the municipalities of Fort-de-France, Le Lamentin, Ducos and Le Robert until Monday. The government also issued a curfew.
The restrictions came after violent protests broke out on the island last week over the high cost of living, with gunfire injuring at least six police officers and one civilian. Police launched tear gas and government officials said several stores were also looted.
Officials said the bans were meant “to put an end to the violence and damage committed at gatherings, as well as to the numerous obstacles to daily life and freedom of movement that penalise the entire population, particularly at weekends”.
But the measure was met by defiance by many on the island, with massive peaceful protests breaking out Saturday night. Videos from local media show crowds of thousands peacefully walking along highways overnight banging on drums and waiving flags.
As protests wound on without violence, the force of French anti-riot police arrived on the island, and were staying at a hotel in Fort-de-France on Sunday. It wasn’t immediately clear how many were sent.
Who are the riot police?
The elite riot police, known as the Companies for Republican Security, were banned in the French territory following bloody riots in December 1959.
The unit had been accused of using disproportionate force against protesters, ending in the deaths of a number of young demonstrators. The force is rarely deployed in French territories in the Caribbean, but was called on during riots and strikes in Guadeloupe in 2009.
Martinique’s leaders requested the forces amid the recent protests in an historic shift for the island, and one met with a sharp rejection by some in the territory.
Béatrice Bellay, a representative of the socialist party on the island, blasted the move, saying: “Martinique is not in a civil war, it is a social war.” She called for an “open and transparent dialogue” between protesters and the government.
“This measure … only serves to aggravate tensions and distract attention from the legitimate demands of the people of Martinique,” she wrote in a statement Sunday.
!ping FRANCE