(Reuters) – Roads were still blocked on Monday in New Caledonia despite the arrival of gendarmerie forces sent by Paris to the French Pacific archipelago, while the remains of the two gendarmes who died since the start of the unrest arrived in the morning in Istres (Bouches-du-Rhône).
The Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, and the Minister Delegate for Overseas Territories, Marie Guévenoux, present in Istres, presented the two deceased gendarmes, Nicolas Molinari and Xavier Salou, with the internal security medal posthumously.
In New Caledonia, the streets were relatively calm on Monday, the High Commission said in a statement, but the roads remained blocked and the airport closed after the arrival of more than 1,000 reinforcements from the national gendarmerie, national police and civil security.
On the main axis linking the capital Nouméa to La Tontouta international airport, 76 roadblocks have been “neutralized”, added the High Commission.
The pro-independence organization at the center of the protests, the Field Action Coordination Cell (CCAT), said in a statement that the blockades were continuing, urging opponents to adopt a peaceful approach.
Emmanuel Macron chaired a new defense and national security council on Monday evening to monitor the situation on site “during which clear progress was noted in the restoration of order”, according to the Elysée.
The defense council has approved the mobilization of military personnel to replace internal security forces in the protection of public buildings, added the French presidency.
All arrangements have been made to allow tourists still present on the archipelago to return home, the Elysée also reports.
For a week, the French Pacific archipelago has been plagued by unrest linked to a proposed constitutional reform – contested by Kanak separatists – aimed at extending the electoral body to people residing for ten years in the archipelago, which has remained frozen since the Noumea Agreement of 1998.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal chaired an interministerial crisis unit on the situation in New Caledonia on Monday morning.
“There is still a way to go before returning to normal, but we are determined to restore order, an essential prerequisite for dialogue,” he wrote on his X account.
“The nights and days have been calmer,” Gérald Darmanin said from Rouen, with the Interior Minister acknowledging that there remained “a lot of work” to restore public order.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the situation was “very worrying”, as hundreds of Australian nationals are stranded in the country due to the cancellation of commercial flights.
According to the director of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of New Caledonia, Charles Roger, quoted by Agence France-Presse, Nouméa international airport will remain closed to commercial flights until 9 a.m. Thursday.
(With Kirsty Needham in Sydney and Lucy Craymer in Wellington; French version Kate Entringer and Zhifan Liu)
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