Macron chairs national security meeting as New Caledonia airport remains shut

The French president will chair the latest meeting of the country's defense and security council on Monday, as the unrest in New Caledonia continues. Emmanuel Macron will meet senior members of the cabinet to discuss the ongoing crisis on the French Pacific island.

‌Speaking on Monday, Camille Chaize, a spokesperson for the French Interior Ministry, said the current state of affairs in the French overseas territory was "an extremely tense situation."

She added that since the start of the riots, "several dozen police officers have been injured."

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On Monday morning, the bodies of the two law enforcement agents who had died in New Caledonia were returned to the French mainland. Four residents have also been killed since the violence broke out a week ago.

A thousand police arrived in New Caledonia from France and streets were relatively calm after a week of unrest, the French High Commission said on Monday, but roads were blocked by protesters and the airport remained shut, stranding tourists

The mayor of Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, called for a suspension of the constitutional reform. In an interview with Le Monde, Sonia Lagarde said there must be "appeasement."

The riots began when protests against constitutional reforms turned violent and widened into demonstrations against inequality and the state of the economy. The reforms were passed by MPs at the National Assembly in Paris last week. They 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 percent of the population. In order to change the constitution, three-fifths of all the members of the Senate and the National Assembly must approve the same wording of the text voted.

The French president wants the two chambers to meet to vote on the reforms "before the end of June."

However, on Sunday, the presidents of four other French overseas territories – La Reunion in the Indian Ocean, Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean and French Guiana in South America – called for the withdrawal of the voting reform in an open letter.

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