The governments of Australia and New Zealand have announced that they will be sending “government” planes to New Caledonia to evacuate their citizens from the French territory following a week of riots. 

Unrest in New Caledonia Leads to Canceled Flights and Stranded Passengers  

The French territory of New Caledonia has been experiencing heavy civil unrest in the past week following a constitutional amendment approved in France that the Kanak - native New Caledonians - fear could mean losing the power of their vote to pro-French voters in elections on the Oceanic island territory.

As last week's peaceful protests against the constitutional amendment began to evolve into riots with the burning of cars and looting of businesses,  the French government closed airports in New Caledonia and airlines suspended commercial flights. 

This has left around 3,200 people stranded in, or wanting to enter, New Caledonia. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs has said that 300 Australians are in New Caledonia, while the New Zealand government has stated that around 50 New Zealanders are stranded as well.

On the evening of Monday May 20, the foreign ministers of Australia, New Zealand, and France met to discuss how to bring home stranded tourists from New Caledonia. 

The method the Australian and New Zealand governments agreed on with France was the evacuation of their citizens through “government” planes, meaning military transport aircraft. 

After a meeting of the French defense council, it was decided that the French government would permit two Australian government planes to travel to Noumea La Tontouta Int’l Airport (NOU), the main airport in New Caledonia, to evacuate Australian citizens. The aircraft used by the Australian government for these evacuation flights were two Lockheed Martin AC-130 aircraft.   

The French government did not disclose how many New Zealand government planes it would allow into New Caledonia for New Zealanders to be evacuated. 

“New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days - and bringing them home has been an urgent priority for the government…We want to acknowledge the support of relevant authorities, both in Paris and Nouméa, in facilitating this flight…” stated New Zealand’s foreign minister Winston Peters. Mr. Peters has acknowledged that the New Zealand government will send more evacuation flights in the coming days. 

New Caledonia - A Remnant of French Colonialism 

The French territory of New Caledonia is located in Oceania. The conglomeration of 140 islands, comprising one large island housing most of the territory's land area, is home to around 270,000 people. Historically, New Caledonia has been a colony of France, with the island gaining greater autonomy and self-governance after the 1998 Nouméa Accord. 

The island territory is primarily home to the native Kanak peoples, with another large majority being people of French and European descent. Historically, Kanaks have been the victims of segregation policies and discriminatory practices. 

In recent years, there has been a growing struggle between people who want New Caledonian independence and those who want New Caledonia to remain a French territory, and the recent riots stem from this issue. 

Kanaks and those who want New Caledonian independence fear that the new French constitutional amendment will give pro-French politicians in New Caledonia an advantage in elections while putting New Caledonians/Kanaks at a disadvantage in the territory's political system.