[ad_1]
NOUMEA (BENARNews) – Pacific island leaders on Wednesday condemned France’s “illegitimate” handling of the decolonization of the UN-mandated Pacific territory of New Caledonia and called for a further referendum on independence.
The five members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group – Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the pro-independence National Liberation Front of New Caledonia – also condemned in a statement France’s militarisation of New Caledonia following deadly riots in May.
The French government’s plan to unfreeze the region’s voter rolls and weaken the Kanak indigenous vote has sparked violent protests that have left 10 people dead, cost the economy billions of dollars and forced France to deploy thousands of police and special forces.
“We firmly believe that this action is inconsistent with the United Nations principle of allowing the views of the indigenous peoples concerned to be expressed in an impartial and unfettered manner, and in particular with the obligations of the administering Powers,” the MSG leaders said in the “Tokyo Statement” issued during a meeting of Pacific leaders in Japan.
“(We) therefore believe that both the action and the result are illegal and invalid.”
New Caledonia’s Kanak people were given greater political power under the 1998 Noumea Accord peace deal, and between 2018 and 2021, New Caledonia held three independence referendums, with the first two voting by narrow majorities to remain in France.
The third vote was controversial, but the independence movement boycotted it because it was unilaterally proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron’s government during the coronavirus pandemic, which limited campaigning. Turnout was low and the vote was overwhelming in favor of France remaining in France.
The MSG leader said dialogue and a new UN-supervised referendum were the political solutions that would guarantee “the lasting peace we are all seeking.”
BenarNews contacted the French High Commission in Noumea regarding MSG’s statement but has yet to receive a response.
“We need regional support to bring stability and restore normalcy to Kanak,” FLNKS spokesman Jimmy Naouna told BenarNews.
Last month’s unrest was the worst political violence in the Pacific region bordering Australia and Fiji since the 1980s.
Overnight, as the conflict entered its tenth week, a historic church was torched in the Kanak town of Saint-Louis, on the outskirts of the capital Noumea, following a week-long operation by 350 French police with armoured personnel carriers to remove roadblocks and reopen a main road through the community.
The New Caledonian Federation of Industries estimated the economic damage from the crisis at 265 billion CPF francs ($2.6 billion).
The Kanak make up about 40 percent of New Caledonia’s 270,000 people, but they are marginalized on their land, have lower incomes and suffer worse health than the Europeans who make up a third of the region’s population and hold most positions of power.
French control of the territory gives the European country a key security and diplomatic role in the Pacific as the United States, Australia and their allies push back against Chinese expansion in the region. New Caledonia also has the world’s largest nickel mine.
Earlier this month, Macron shelved electoral reforms that sparked protests ahead of France’s National Assembly elections.
The surprise winner of the snap election, the left-wing New Popular Front coalition, has yet to form a government, while Macron remains president.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the largest group in the New Patriotic Front coalition, called during his campaign for an “end to the neo-colonial practices of the Kanaks of New Caledonia.”
Election results showed that Kanak Front candidate Emmanuel Tjibaou – son of assassinated independence leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou – won the group’s second seat in the legislature since 1986. MSG leaders pointed out that his victory provided further reason to hold another referendum.
Seven Taiwanese independence activists arrested in connection with the May unrest were transferred to France for trial, a move criticised by the National Security Council as “not conducive to creating a harmonious and peaceful environment”.
Melanesian leaders also requested a joint UN-SMG mission to New Caledonia to assess the situation, warning that they may raise the issue at the UN General Assembly in New York in September…PACNEWS
related
[ad_2]
Source link
