SYDNEY (AP) — The Australian and New Zealand governments announced Tuesday they are sending planes to evacuate their nationals from violence-scorched New Caledonia.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed that Australia has received permission from French authorities for two flights to evacuate citizens and other tourists from New Caledonia amid violent unrest ravaging the French Pacific archipelago, where indigenous people have long sought independence from France.
“We continue to work on further flights,” Wong wrote on social media platform X on Tuesday.
The Foreign Office said there were 300 Australians in New Caledonia.
New Zealand also announced it would send a plane on Tuesday to evacuate 50 of its nationals from the Pacific island capital of Noumea, in the first of a series of proposed flights to bring its citizens home.
“New Zealanders in New Caledonia have had a challenging few days – and getting them home has been an urgent priority for the government,” Peters said.
“We will be working on follow-up flights in collaboration with France and Australia in the coming days.”
At least six people have been killed and hundreds of others injured in New Caledonia after violence erupted last week following controversial electoral reforms passed in Paris.
About 270 rioters had been arrested on Tuesday and a curfew was in effect from 6pm to 6am.
France has sent more than a thousand security personnel, with hundreds more expected to arrive on Tuesday, in an effort to quell unrest and restore control.
There have been decades of tension between indigenous Kanaks seeking independence and descendants of settlers who want to remain part of France.
The unrest broke out on May 13 when the French legislature in Paris debated amending the French constitution to make changes to New Caledonia’s electoral rolls. The National Assembly in Paris approved a bill that, among other changes, would allow residents who have lived in New Caledonia for ten years to vote in provincial elections.
Opponents fear the measure will benefit pro-French politicians in New Caledonia and further marginalize the Kanaks, who once suffered from strict segregation policies and widespread discrimination.
