French authorities in New Caledonia have regained full control of the capital of their Pacific territory, the interior minister said on Friday.
Gerald Darmanin said in a post on X on Friday that a “major police operation was successful” in the Rivière-Sali neighbourhood of Nouméa, the last area of New Caledonia’s capital that was under the control of protesters.
The operation involved 400 members of the French and New Caledonian security forces, including members of the French police’s elite counter-terrorism and organised crime unit and its counterparts from the French armed forces, Darmanin said. Twelve people were arrested during the operation and 26 roadblocks were dismantled and cleared, the minister said.
The violence erupted on May 13 in response to attempts by French President Emmanuel Macron’s government to amend the French constitution and change voter lists in New Caledonia. On May 15, Paris declared a state of emergency in its Pacific territory and sent hundreds of military personnel to help police quell the riot, which was accompanied by shootings, clashes, looting and arson.
Both sides of New Caledonia’s bitter divide – indigenous Kanaks who want independence and French loyalists – have erected barricades to either rebel against the authorities or protect their homes and property. The pro-independence demonstrators erected barricades of charred cars and other debris, turning parts of the capital Nouméa into a no-go zone.
Conflict is on the wane
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron decided to lift the state of emergency in New Caledonia to help establish a dialogue between local parties and French authorities on the future of the archipelago’s 270,000 residents and restore peace.
Pro-independence parties and Kanak leaders have called on Macron to withdraw the electoral reform bill if France wants to “put an end to the crisis.” Opponents fear the voting law will benefit pro-French politicians in New Caledonia and further marginalise indigenous Kanaks, who have long sought liberation from French rule amid sharp economic disparities and decades of discrimination.
While violence has subsided in recent days, tensions remain as pro-independence leaders call on their supporters to “stay mobilised” and “continue to resist” France.
Despite the lifting of the emergency measures, evening and night-time curfews are still in force. In New Caledonia, authorities still prohibit movement between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., except in health emergencies, and bans on public gatherings, transporting and carrying weapons and the sale of alcohol remain in force.
New Caledonia became French in 1853 under Emperor Napoleon III, Napoleon’s nephew and heir. After World War II, it became an overseas territory, and in 1957 all Kanaks received French citizenship.
