The Kanak people have risen up against French colonialism, with revolts led by pro-independence groups erupting on the small Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia on 13 May. After over 170 years under French control and the gradual settling of New Caledonia by white French colonisers, the Kanak are resisting yet another attempt by France to diminish their autonomy. So fierce was the resistance to a proposed electoral reform that would have further diluted Kanak rights that, on a visit to the capital Nouméa, President Macron has been forced to concede that it cannot, at least at the moment, go ahead.
Blocking roads and the destruction and torching of public and private property were among the main methods used to express anger, with damages being estimated around €200m. In response to what Macron described as ‘an insurrection’, the French government opted for a forceful return to ‘republican order’, sending thousands of security forces including gendarmes, armed police and Marines to the territory, as well as imposing curfews, banning free assembly, and barring access to social media apps like Tiktok. Six people were killed in clashes between protesters, the police, and loyalist militias. These militias, made up of white French settlers, are armed to the teeth. Despite being clearly fuelled by anti-Kanak racism, they were protected by local government officials weaving a narrative of ‘concerned’ citizens motivated solely by a simple wish to protect their homes and families. The movement in support of independence is divided between more moderate factions condemning the violence, and the group leading the resistance, the Field Action Coordination Cell (CCAT). Members of CCAT have been placed under house arrest and the organisation is currently under investigation. The French Justice Minister has called on prosecutors to ‘take the strongest possible action against the perpetrators of the violence’.
The cause of these protests is a proposed reform which would expand the New Caledonian electoral roll to anyone resident there for more than ten years. Previously it was limited to who arrived on the islands before 1998. This restriction was designed to prevent the indigenous Kanak people from becoming an electoral minority as thousands of settlers from France moved in. The original law dates back to the Nouméa Accords of 1998, which set the parameters for Kanak self-determination. Notably, it stipulated that only those registered to vote in New Caledonia in the 1998 elections and their descendants would be able to vote in self-determination referendums, three of which were to happen. To register to vote, one had to prove residence in New-Caledonia dating back ten years. This had already proved an issue, many Kanak could not provide the standard of residency proof required by the French colonial administration.
A history of colonialism, racism – and resistance
New Caledonia was first colonised by the French in 1853. While it was initially designated a penal colony – with several leaders of the Paris Commune being sent into exile there – the discovering of nickel on the islands by 1864 marked the beginning of a mining industry monopolised by French colonists. The relegating of indigenous Kanaks to reservations and their exclusion from the mining industry sparked uprisings both in 1878 and 1917. As always, the economic dispossession of the colonised people was reflected in a vicious, racist ideology. As late as the 1930s, Kanak people were brought to be exposed in human zoos across France, usually depicted as cannibals and polygamists and made to perform for white audiences. In 1985, the popular right-wing newspaper Le Figaro described the Kanak as ‘savages’. In the recent uprising, the right-wing French mayor of Nouméa, Sonia Backes, dared to accuse the Kanak of ‘extremist anti-white racism’.
The Nouméa Accords were a response to the militant independence wave that hit the islands from the late 1970s to the end of the 1980s, inspired by the Cuban Revolution, the Algerian War of Independence and the 1968 student protests. Leading the movement was the FLNKS, the socialist Kanak national liberation front. French President Francois Mitterrand’s social democratic government orchestrated the brutal repression of Kanaks, resulting in dozens of deaths.
The self-determination referendums happened in 2018, 2020, and 2021. In the initial two, the loyalist side won by small margins. The last one was intentionally rushed by the Macron government in the midst of a global pandemic, despite elections in metropolitan France themselves being delayed. The referendum was boycotted by independence parties, and there was a record low turnout: only 43% of voters, mostly loyalists, came out to vote. Yet the result was accepted as legitimate. The intention of the French lawmakers was never to let go of the archipelago, instead to ensure it would never escape the grasp of imperialist France, while holding out the illusion of self-determination being an option for the Kanak people. The new electoral reform would make any hope of self-determination through ‘legal’ means virtually impossible.
Free Kanaky!
New Caledonia accounts for 30% of the world’s supply in nickel, which is essential for producing electronics, and the industry is a major employer. However it is currently experiencing a crisis of profitability, exacerbating economic inequalities on the islands. Yet New Caledonia remains France’s main stronghold in the Pacific, giving it access to a large expanse of territorial waters and making it an ideal outpost from which to challenge China’s influence over the Indo-Pacific.
Young people make up most of those demonstrating their anger, as they face the brunt of economic inequality and state repression. They have the most to gain from an independent New Caledonia, or Kanaky as it is called by indigenous populations. The French government is holding out the offer of ‘dialogue’ and ‘negotiation’ to resolve the current situation, in which it will clearly hope to persuade the more reformist trends of the independence movement to accept some concessions. But the young Kanak people, and their representatives in the CCAT have so far ignored the French bait, instead focusing on building their movement against French colonisation. All they have left to say their oppressors is ‘free Kanaky!’
End French imperialism!
Victory to the Kanak resistance!
Sarah Guebre-Egzhiabher
FIGHT RACISM! FIGHT IMPERIALISM! 300 June/July 2024
