NZ, Australian Foreign Ministers Express ‘Serious Concern’ Over New Caledonia Violence, Deaths

The death of four people, including two police officers has forced President Emmanuel Macron to declare a state of emergency in the French overseas territory.

A photo shows burnt-out cars in the parking lot of the old hospital on the outskirts of Noumea, New Caledonia in the South Pacific on May 16, 2024. Delphine Mayeur /AFP via Getty Images

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters says he is “gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia,” as violence, spurred on by a socialist-led independence movement, exploded this week.

The French government has indicated it will deploy troops to quell deadly rioting in New Caledonia’s capital, Noumea, triggered by the issuing of voting rights to immigrant French nationals that has stirred a pro-independence fervour amongst the Indigenous population.