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French President Emmanuel Macron flies to New Caledonia amid ongoing unrest

By Thomas Adamson - May 22, 2024, 08:31 AM ET
Last Updated - May 27, 2024, 12:27 AM EDT
New Caledonia
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at New Caledonia's High Commissioner residency, in Noumea, France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia Thursday May, 23, 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron pushed Thursday on a visit to riot-hit New Caledonia for the removal of protesters' barricades and said police sent in to help battle deadly unrest in the French Pacific archipelago "will stay as long as necessary," even as security services back in France focus in coming weeks on safeguarding the Paris Olympics. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron is flying to New Caledonia in a bid to find a political solution to the riots that have rocked the French archipelago in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, some 16,000 kilometers from metropolitan France

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron flew to New Caledonia Wednesday in a bid to find a political solution to the riots that have rocked the French archipelago in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, some 16,000 kilometers (10,000 miles) from metropolitan France.

The unrest has raised new questions about Macron’s handling of France’s colonial legacy. There have been decades of tensions between Indigenous Kanaks, who seek independence for the territory of 270,000 people, and descendants of colonists and others who settled on the island and who want to remain part of France.

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The unrest erupted May 13 as the French legislature in Paris debated amending the French Constitution to make changes to New Caledonia voter lists. Opponents fear the measure will benefit pro-France politicians in New Caledonia and further marginalize the Kanaks, who once suffered from strict segregation policies and widespread discrimination.

Macron is expected to land Thursday morning in New Caledonia, where the presidential Elysee Palace said that he will focus on restoring order and facilitating dialogue among local leaders, and to discuss the significant reconstruction needed after violence has caused damage estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of euros (dollars).

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