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Copyright © 2024 CGTN. 京ICP备20000184号
Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466
As violent unrest continued in New Caledonia, three police officers suffered gunshot wounds in the capital of the French overseas territory.
Hundreds of additional security personnel have arrived on the Pacific island to try to restore order.
Five people - two police officers and three residents - have so far died in the civil unrest.
The French prime minister said the government wants to restore order as quickly as possible and ensure life can return to normal.
Burnt-out cars in the parking lot of the old hospital on the outskirts of Noumea. /Delphine Mayeur/AFP
Speaking on Thursday in Paris, Gabriel Attal added that the government wants to create the conditions for dialogue.
He also said that the government would impose harsh sanctions on anyone found to have participated in rioting or looting.
Soldiers and police have been deployed to ports and the main international airport, and the social media app TikTok has been temporarily banned in the overseas territory, which is roughly halfway between Australia and Fiji.
Violent unrest this week has disrupted daily life in New Caledonia. Cars have been torched, shops looted, and police stations attacked, leading to hundreds of arrests.
The riots began when protests against constitutional reforms turned violent and widened into demonstrations against inequality and the state of the economy.
A neighborhood resident watches over a roadblock set up by local residents to prevent the militia from passing through in Noumea. /Delphine Mayeur/AFP
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The constitutional reforms were passed by MPs at the National Assembly in Paris earlier in the week. These would see voting rights extended to French residents who have been living on the island for at least 10 years.
However, many local activists fear the move would dilute the vote of the indigenous Kanak residents, who make up roughly 40 per cent of the population.
In 1998, France vowed to gradually give more political power to the Pacific island territory of nearly 300,000 people.
As part of the agreement, New Caledonia has held three referendums over its ties with France, all rejecting independence.
But the separatist movement retains support, particularly among the Kanak people.
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