French President Emmanuel Macron holds a defence council on France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia situationFrench President Macron holds a defence council on France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia, in ParisFrench President Emmanuel Macron will travel to the Pacific island of New Caledonia late on Tuesday, his office said, just over a week after riots erupted in the French overseas territory, killing six.
Macron will meet elected officials and local representatives on Thursday for a day of talks focused on politics and on the reconstruction of the island, aides said. France annexed New Caledonia in 1853 and gave the colony the status of overseas territory in 1946. New Caledonia is the world’s No. 3 nickel miner but the sector is in crisis and one-in-five residents live below the poverty threshold.
Vanuatu Foreign Minister Matai Seremaiah urged France to “do the right thing, to resolve all outstanding decolonisation issues” and seriously engage with Kanak leaders.Some 108 Australians and other tourists landed in Brisbane on two government flights, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on X. A Defence Force plane landed in Auckland with some 50 people on board, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Chris Salmon, who works in the mining industry in New Caledonia, hugged his family and said he was relieved to have left the French island. “It feels all pretty awful, pretty senseless,” he said.Around 3 200 people were waiting to leave or enter New Caledonia after commercial flights were cancelled last week due to the unrest, the local government has said.
More than 1 000 gendarmes and police from France were on patrol and another 600 would be added, France’s High Commission said.