A year after New Caledonia’s deadly riots, France hosts summit on territory’s future

More than a year after deadly unrest hit the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, France’s President Emmanuel Macron is bringing together the leaders of the Pacific archipelago for a summit in Paris from Wednesday.

The event will focus on the future of New Caledonia, and is being attended by lawmakers, economic figures and civil society representatives from the archipelago.

It follows stalled negotiations between pro-independence and anti-independence politicians which were held in May, when French Minister for Overseas Territories, Manuel Valls, hosted an inconclusive three-day meeting.

The minister’s’ “sovereignty with France” project, which included a provision for introducing dual French and New Caledonian nationality, sparked a backlash from anti-independence backers. At the other end of the spectrum, pro-independence politicians favour full independence, while many others want increased autonomy.

This time around, Macron has announced that discussions would last “as long as necessary”, in order to ensure that key issues were addressed “with all the seriousness they deserve”. As it stands, talks are set to run until the weekend, with no fixed deadline.

However, the content and schedule of this latest summit remains unclear.

A number of discussions will be devoted to the economy and the future of nickel, as New Caledonia holds between 20% and 30% of global nickel resources.

New Caledonia was hit by mass riots in May 2024, triggered by French government plans to give thousands of non-indigenous long-term residents voting rights. The unrest resulted in the death of 14 people and caused billions of euros worth of damage.

As it stands, only Kanaks — New Caledonia’s indigenous population — and those who arrived from France before 1998 can cast their ballots in elections. However, since 1998 a further 40,000 French citizens have moved to the overseas territory of New Caledonia.

France held three referendums in New Caledonia on independence between 2018 and 2021 as part of an agreement known as the Noumea Accords that followed a 1988 peace deal that ended violence between rival factions.

A majority of voters chose to remain part of France instead of backing independence. The pro-independence Kanak people rejected the results of the latest referendum in 2021, which they boycotted because it was held at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that severely affected the Kanak community.

According to the 2019 census, 32.5% of Indigenous Kanaks — who make up 41% of the region’s total population — live in poverty.