New Caledonia

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Australia and New Zealand begin evacuating nationals from unrest in New Caledonia

NEWCASTLE, Australia (AP) — Australia and New Zealand sent airplanes to New Caledonia on Tuesday to begin bringing home stranded citizens from the violence-wracked French South Pacific territory.

https://apnews.com/article/australia-new-zealand-new-caledonia-australia-8fb1ad85f675720ed77c03b718533bd2?

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Macron is in New Caledonia as deadly unrest shakes the archipelago President Emmanuel Macron met with local officials Thursday in riot-hit New Caledonia, in a high-profile show of support for the French Pacific archipelago gripped by deadly unrest and where Indigenous people have long sought independence from France. Read more.

Key points: On May 15, France declared a 12-day-minimum state of emergency on the island. The violence has left at least six dead and destruction was estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of euros. Macron said 3,000 security officers have been deployed and will stay as long as necessary, even if that means remaining during the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.   There have been decades of tensions over the issue of independence between Indigenous Kanak people and descendants of colonists who settled in the territory and want to remain part of France. Violence erupted after French lawmakers approved changes to the French Constitution that would allow residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years to vote in provincial elections. Opponents fear the measure will benefit pro-France politicians and further marginalize Kanaks.   New Caledonia holds 20-30% of the world’s nickel reserves. The European Union has named nickel as a critical raw material, meaning it is economically and strategically important for the European economy. “Some of the discussion around France wanting to maintain its control over New Caledonia is motivated by its hopes to secure the large nickel deposits there, perhaps with an eye to future electric vehicle production,” said Nicholas Ferns, a research fellow at Monash University in Australia.

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