May 20 (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.
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.
Emmanuel Macron will chair a new defense and national security council on Monday at 6:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. GMT) on monitoring the situation on site, the Elysée announced on Sunday.
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)
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