Context: Widespread protests and riots erupted in New Caledonia in response to the French parliament’s decision to amend the voters’ list.
About New Caledonia
Why Are Protests Happening?
- The new amendment bill will pave the way for incorporating citizens who were either born or lived in the territory for at least 10 years.
- Kanaks, the indigenous community of the territory, opposed this on claims that it diluted their electoral power thus marginalising them.
- The Kanaks comprise 43% of the 1,45,000 population, while the European (French loyalists), Wallisians and Futunians comprise 37%.
- The new voting amendment will give majority to the loyalists undermining the Kanaks’ future towards decolonisation.
- This would also mean an alteration of the internal political environment towards French settlers.
Brief History of the Archipelago
- New Caledonia had Kanaks as the original inhabitants.
- France gained control of the territory in 1853 and governed the Kanaks with reservations.
- After the Second World War, colonial laws were abolished, and the Kanaks were granted French citizenship.
- In the 1960s, increased migration from France turned the Kanaks into a minority in New Caledonia.
- Angered by their deteriorating socio-economic status and lack of economic and political involvement, an independence movement grew in the island.
