France rushes emergency police reinforcements to New Caledonia

Largely indigenous protests against a French plan to impose new voting rules on the archipelago have spiralled into the deadliest violence since the 1980s.

A gendarme was killed on Thursday, said French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, bringing the death toll to five, including two gendarmes.

A police source told AFP the gendarme was killed by friendly fire on Thursday.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said Paris would send "around 1,000 additional internal security personnel" to New Caledonia – adding to 1,700 on the ground – and push for "the harshest penalties for rioters and looters".

Attal on Wednesday night announced a state of emergency, which kicked in at 5am local time on Thursday in New Caledonia.

The emergency measures give authorities greater powers to tackle the violence, including the possibility of house detention for people deemed a threat to public order, and expanded powers to conduct searches, seize weapons and restrict movements, with possible jail time for violators.

TikTok had been banned because it was being used by protesters, Attal said.

The last time France imposed such measures on one of its overseas territories was in 1985, also in New Caledonia, the interior ministry said.

New Caledonia, which lies between Australia and Fiji around 17,000 kilometres (10,600 miles) from Paris, is one of several territories around the globe that remain part of France in the post-colonial era. 

Rioting erupted over a new bill, adopted by lawmakers in Paris on Tuesday, that will let French residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years vote in provincial elections – a move some local leaders fear will dilute the indigenous Kanak vote.

Largely indigenous protests against a French plan to impose new voting rules on the archipelago have spiralled into the deadliest violence since the 1980s.

Shops, warehouses 'wiped out' in unrest

In the capital Nouméa, there was a suspected arson attack on the building housing a consultative body for the Kanak people, its staff said, although the extent of the damage was not immediately clear.

Security forces placed five suspected ringleaders under house arrest, according to the high commission, which represents the French state in New Caledonia.

More than 200 of an estimated 5,000 "rioters" in greater Nouméa have been arrested, the high commission said.

It added that "people have been ambushing law enforcement officers" with "sustained fire from hunting rifles".

Authorities on Thursday morning reported a third night of "clashes", although AFP correspondents in Nouméa said it appeared calmer than previous nights.

Between 80 and 90 percent of the grocery distribution network in Nouméa – from shops to warehouses and wholesalers – had been "wiped out", Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) President David Guyenne said.

"The structure of New Caledonia's economy has been harmed," he added.

The high commission said France was establishing an "air bridge" to bring in troops, police reinforcements and essential supplies for the population.

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Special status

While New Caledonia has on three occasions rejected independence in referendums, the cause retains strong support among the Kanak people, whose ancestors have lived on the islands for thousands of years.

Colonised by France from the second half of the 19th century, it has special status, unlike the country's other overseas territories.

French lawmakers on Tuesday pushed forward plans to allow outsiders who moved to New Caledonia at least 10 years ago to cast ballots in the territory's elections.

Pro-independence forces say that would dilute the vote of Kanaks, who make up about 40 percent of the population.

Voting reform must still be approved by a joint sitting of both houses of the French parliament.  

President Emmanuel Macron has said French lawmakers will vote to adopt the constitutional change by the end of June unless New Caledonia's opposing sides can strike a new deal.

But a videoconference planned for Thursday was dropped as "the different players didn't want to speak to one another for now", his office said.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)