Macron flies to New Caledonia amid ongoing unrest and Indigenous frustration with France

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron was on a flight to New Caledonia Wednesday to seek a political solution to the deadly violence that has rocked the French archipelago in the Pacific where indigenous Kanaks have long sought independence.

The rioting has raised new questions about Macron’s handling of France’s colonial legacy, including on the islands some 16,000 kilometers (10,000 miles) from metropolitan France. There have been decades of tensions between the Kanaks and descendants of colonists and others who settled in the territory of 270,000 people and want to remain part of France.

The violence erupted May 13 as the French legislature in Paris debated amending the French Constitution to make changes to New Caledonia voter lists. Opponents fear the measure will benefit pro-France politicians in New Caledonia and further marginalize the Kanaks, who once suffered from strict segregation policies and widespread discrimination.

Macron left France on Tuesday evening and is expected to land on Thursday morning in New Caledonia. The presidential Elysee Palace said he will focus on restoring order and facilitating dialogue among local leaders.

The president is going “to launch a discussion which should allow for a comprehensive political agreement to emerge,” Prime Minster Gabriel Attal told senators on Wednesday, without going into detail.

Six people have died in the violence, including four civilians and two gendarmes. The New Caledonia High Commission said more than 280 people have been arrested and 84 police officers and gendarmes have been injured. It said 1,050 reinforcements from the gendarmerie, police and civil security have been deployed.

It was not clear how many civilians were injured.

Macron's objectives also include expressing solidarity with the territory's inhabitants, thanking security forces, and meeting with local leaders. He was also expected to discuss the significant reconstruction needed. The violence has caused damage estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of euros (dollars).

Macron, in the past, has facilitated dialogue in New Caledonia between pro-independence and pro-France factions. The efforts culminated in a 2018 referendum, the first of three, in which New Caledonians voted to remain part of France by a narrow margin.

Evacuation flights from New Caledonia to Australia continued.

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AP writer Rod McGuirk in Melbourne, Australia, contributed to this report.

Demonstrators hold Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) flags during a gathering in Paris, Thursday May.16, 2024. Violence raged across New Caledonia for the third consecutive day Thursday, hours after France imposed a state of emergency in the French Pacific territory, boosting security forces' powers to quell unrest in the archipelago that has long sought independence. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

In this photo released by New Zealand Defence Force, New Zealand tourists line up as they prepare to board a RNZAF hercules at Magenta Airport in Noumea, New Caledonia, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Australia and New Zealand have sent airplanes to New Caledonia to begin bringing home stranded citizens from the violence-wracked French South Pacific territory. (P.O. Chris Weissenborn/New Zealand Defence Force Department via AP)

France's President Emmanuel Macron waves as he boards his Presidential plane to travel to the Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia, at the Orly airport, Paris Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via AP)

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