TERRIFIED British tourists have been evacuated from the tropical holiday hotspot of New Caledonia as a wave of deadly violence rocks the territory.
The nine-day riots left six dead and hundreds of people injured, with cars, shops and buildings set on fire and destroyed.
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A Kanak flag flies next to a burning vehicle at a roadblock in New CaledoniaCredit: Getty
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A gendarmerie officer looks on from an armored vehicle in Noumea, New CaledoniaCredit: Getty
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Burning vehicles are stacked on top of each other to form roadblocks across the territoryCredit: AFP
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Residents look at burned cars at a car dealership in the Belle-Vie district of NoumeaCredit: AFP
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French armed forces boarded a plane to New CaledoniaCredit: AP
The United Kingdom has joined Australia and New Zealand in efforts to save their citizens from Haiti-like bloodshed on French territory.
French President Emmanuel Macron is flying to the Pacific region today – hot on the heels of French police arriving on the islands last week – as rebels continue to torch cars and loot shops.
Images showed burnt-out vehicles stacked on top of each other to form roadblocks that were said to be restricting access to medicine and food for tourists and locals.
The riots are the deadliest seen in the French Pacific in four decades.
Read more about the bloodshed in Haiti
Six people have died in protests that began nine days ago after Paris approved changes that would have given thousands of non-indigenous residents the right to vote.
Local leaders among the indigenous Kanak people reportedly fear that constitutional reform will dilute the Kanak vote.
Macron will meet with elected officials and local representatives tomorrow for a day of talks related to politics and island reconstruction, aides said.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said Macron would “talk to all the forces in New Caledonia”, adding that the aim of the talks was “to prepare and anticipate reconstruction”.
He said: “The president is also going there to re-establish dialogue.”
One family that has called New Caledonia home for almost a year, with children enrolled in school, is preparing to escape the unrest by packing up their boat with supplies and sailing 770 nm to Australia.
Paradise island ‘under siege’ by rebels leaving thousands of tourists stranded as France deploys special forces
Father-of-three Xavier Decramer, a French national, told The Guardian: “It is clear that we will be leaving this place with heavy hearts.
“Given that my wife was born here, we wanted to settle here.
“It’s hard. We’re really torn between the need to get our family safe … and the feeling that we’re leaving people here — people who can’t leave.”
Nouméa’s international airport is closed to commercial flights, but some governments – including Australia and New Zealand – have launched repatriation flights to get their nationals off the island.
Schools have also been closed and businesses burned, and supplies for people and hospitals are now running low.
An estimated 3,200 tourists are stranded in the area – along with around 270,000 residents.
Fiery conflicts make it increasingly difficult to buy groceries and seek medical help.
The government of New Caledonia explained: “The problem is not so much a lack of staff, medical and food supplies, but more importantly a problem of access.”
The UK government is supporting British nationals as it works with France, Australia and New Zealand on a co-ordinated response, The Sun has learned.
A small number of Britons joined flights organized by New Zealand and Australia yesterday to leave the territory.
The UK Government has advised Britons remaining in New Caledonia to report their presence and follow instructions from the Foreign Office for further updates.
It comes after Paris declared a state of emergency on the islands last week and sent 1,000 troops to support New Caledonia’s security forces, which appear to have lost control in Nouméa.
Why are there riots in New Caledonia?
By Rebecca Husselbee
Deadly unrest in the French colony of New Caledonia erupted after lawmakers in Paris approved a constitutional amendment to allow recent arrivals to the territory to vote in elections.
Local leaders fear the changes will weaken the voices of the indigenous Kanak people, who make up 40 percent of the paradise island’s population.
In 1998, it was agreed that voting would be limited to indigenous Kanaks and migrants who had lived there before ’98, but unrest exploded after Paris decided to open the election to those who had lived there for at least ten years.
The amendment is the latest flashpoint in a decades-long battle over French control of the territory since 1942 after Macron announced plans to increase French influence in the Pacific.
New Caledonia is the world’s third largest producer of nickel and is located where the US and China are currently fighting for power.
After the nickel boom attracted many outsiders to the island, tensions rose due to the conflict between Paris and the Kanak independence movement.
Two Royal Australian Air Force planes flew 108 Australians and other tourists from New Caledonia to Brisbane on Tuesday night, while the New Zealand military flew 48 people to Auckland.
France said it expects to evacuate around 500 people in military planes starting today.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the unfolding situation as “deeply concerning”.
Dominique Fochi, secretary general of the territory’s leading independence movement, called for calm on the island but said the French government must suspend constitutional reform.
He told Reuters: “We need strong actions to calm the situation, the government must stop adding fuel to the fire.”
The presidents of France’s four other overseas territories called for the reform to be withdrawn, writing in an open letter: “Only a political response can stop the growing violence and prevent civil war.”
Viro Xulue, a member of the community currently helping the Kanaki, said the current unrest is similar to the civil war of the 1980s.
He said: “We are really afraid of the police, the French soldiers, and we are afraid of the terrorist group against the Kanak militia.
“The French government does not know how to control people here.
“They send more than 2,000 troops to control it, but it’s a failure.”
Three of the six killed during the protest were young Canadians who were shot dead by armed civilians.
The deadly conflict now taking place is between Kanak activists, armed self-defense groups and civilian militias, according to the French High Commission.
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Burning vehicles block the road at the entrance to Ducos in New CaledoniaCredit: AFP
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The remains of burned vehicles are stacked on top of each other between Porte de Fer and Montravel in NoumeaCredit: Rex
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French gendarmerie stand with their shields at the entrance to the Vallee-du-Tir district in NoumeaCredit: AFP
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A car dealership was destroyed in the Magenta district of NoumeaCredit: AFP
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Smoke rises amid escalating protests in NoumeaCredit: Rex
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Security officials and French gendarmerie armored vehicles guard the RT1, securing the machine that clears debris and rubbish from the roadCredit: AFP
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Passengers carry their luggage as civil guards, police officers and firefighters board a French air force planeCredit: Reuters
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Passengers board a French Air Force plane at the Istres military air base Credit: Reuters
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