By the Pacific Local Journalism Network Nick Sasfiji reporter Movono Lice and foreign affairs reporter Esteban Dziedzic

Kanak flags raised high at a pro-independence demonstration in Nouméa, the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia.
Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Lydia Lewis

In brief

• After multiple delays, three prime ministers from Pacific island nations have toured the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia.
• Deadly riots broke out in the archipelago in May and a standoff persists as the indigenous population continues to push for independence from France.

What’s next?

• The French government insists the tour is an “information mission” but leaders will brief the Pacific Islands Forum on what they see as a way forward.

Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says he is willing to personally intervene in New Caledonia’s independence bid as stalemate continues over the way forward for the conflict-torn French territory.

The comments came after the Fijian leader completed a three-day mission to French territory with the prime ministers of Tonga and the Cook Islands on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), to “get a sense of what’s happening on the ground” after the deadly riots rocked the territory in May.

The tour, which the French government insisted was an “information mission” and not a “mediation mission,” came after Pacific leaders pressured Paris to allow them into the country to speak with “the Pacific family” in New Caledonia.

Pacific leaders believe that by talking to both sides, the indigenous Kanaks and the French government, they can help the two sides reach a solution and “lower the temperature” as the indigenous population continues to push for independence from France.

Troika plus Leaders of the PIF on Monday, October 28 with the president of the Southern Province, Sonia Backès, at the SPC headquarters
Photo: PIF

Speaking to the ABC after completing this week’s mission, Rabuka said New Caledonia was still French territory and his tour was only to advise Pacific leaders and the PIF on the way forward.

However, in a move likely to attract attention in France, Rabuka and his Cook Islands counterpart Mark Brown suggested to the ABC that Pacific police could be deployed to New Caledonia as a peacekeeping force under of the Australian-backed Pacific Policing Initiative (IPP).

Rabuka suggested the mission could be “similar” to the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands that was deployed by the Australian government after ethnic unrest began in the 2000s, while emphasizing that the move would need a green light. of the French and New Caledonian authorities.

“It can be (deployed), but it cannot be imposed on New Caledonia or France,” Rabuka said.

But the proposal is likely to be controversial in France, which retains ultimate authority for all military and security matters in New Caledonia.

Paris believes that pro-independence extremists have deliberately tried to destabilize the territory to create a sense of crisis, in an attempt to force the French government to abandon New Caledonia.

France’s ambassador to the Pacific, Veronique Roger-Lacan, told ABC she doubted French authorities saw the need to deploy Pacific police to New Caledonia.

“According to the Nouméa agreement, security is the exclusive responsibility of the French State,” he stated.

“The idea of ​​PPI participation was not mentioned in any meeting with the French State during the mission.”

“The French state has regained stability, so this does not seem to be a problem now.”

France still has thousands of police deployed in New Caledonia to keep the peace after violence broke out in May.
Photo: NC the 1st

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) would not be attracted to the idea of ​​​​a deployment of Pacific police in the territory.

“We welcome the PIF Troika+ mission to New Caledonia and look forward to the delegation’s report to PIF members in due course,” they said.

Rabuka also suggested that he would be willing to personally intervene on behalf of the Kanaks of New Caledonia to “disengage” from France if they so desired.

In July, the French ambassador to the Pacific told ABC that it was impossible for the PIF to “mediate” between French authorities and pro-independence parties, as New Caledonia remained part of France.

France still has thousands of police deployed in New Caledonia to keep the peace after violence broke out in May over Paris’ plan for electoral reforms that indigenous Kanaks fear would leave them in a permanent minority, crushing their chances of winning independence.

Fresh violence broke out in September after French security forces killed two men, raising the death toll to 13 after months of unrest.

Inside sources have told ABC that there is still a false sense of calm on the ground, reinforced by the thousands of French police in the territory and the persistent threat of violence from pro-independence extremist groups.

The Australian government recommends “reconsidering” any travel to New Caledonia.

“A feeling of tension”

The leaders’ tour comes as stalemate continues over the way forward for the French territory: New Caledonia’s pro-independence president, Louis Mapou, told Islands Business magazine this week that the political, economic and social system that controls the country has “reached its end.”

Mapou is the first pro-independence Kanak president in more than 40 years.

In relation to the Pacific leaders’ visit, Mapou stated that the group was not in the country to “interfere”.

“But rather (they were here) because a member of their family is in difficulty,” he said.

“So it is quite normal for the Forum to visit and say that it is willing to contribute to the reduction of the conflict.”

The PIF has not yet issued an official statement regarding the visit.

In a separate interview with ABC The Pacific On the programme, the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, who was also part of the tour, stated that there was still “a sense of tension in the air” in New Caledonia.

“The goal is to try to reduce those tensions, to get people who are in positions of authority to influence other people to start debates and start talking,” Mr. Brown said.

He said there was a critical need for a financial rescue package that had to come from France. The price of any reconstruction has been estimated at about $5 billion.

“The majority of groups and individuals we spoke to by far preferred a resolution or the creation of a path forward as a result of more dialogue rather than more violence,” he said.

“So there is a significant proportion of the population of New Caledonia who are looking forward to the resumption of discussions and conversations about what New Caledonia wants for the future.

“And it’s not just a question of the Kanaks against the European French.”