The Department of Foreign Affairs has raised Alert Level 2 or Restriction Phase over New Caledonia even as the declaration of a state of emergency in the territory was lifted Tuesday.
In an advisory, the department appealed to the approximately 200 Filipinos and Filipinos by descent in New Caledonia to remain vigilant, avoid public places, and restrict non-essential movement.
“Filipinos are also advised to monitor and follow guidelines set by local authorities,” the DFA said.
New Caledonia is one of several territories in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific that are still part of France in the post-colonial era, giving Paris a global footprint unmatched by any other European power.
Filipinos can contact the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney for concerns through [email protected] and +61 481 728 027.
On Friday, French security forces regained control throughout New Caledonia’s capital Noumea, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said, two weeks after deadly riots broke out in the Pacific territory.
Around 400 police had cleared 26 barricades and arrested 12 people in the Riviere-Salee district in the city’s north, Darmanin wrote on X.
It was “the last neighborhood of Noumea that was not under control,” he added.
The violence erupted over a planned voting reform that indigenous Kanaks fear will marginalize them politically.
Other districts of greater Noumea remain blockaded, said Sonia Backes, a pro-France politician who heads New Caledonia’s southern province.
Reports showed that seven people have been killed, hundreds arrested, and large numbers of buildings and cars destroyed in a fortnight of upheaval in New Caledonia.
Police shot dead a man on Friday evening, a day after French President Emmanuel Macron visited to try to calm tensions.
Backes urged government forces to clear the remaining neighborhoods as soon as possible.
An AFP journalist saw another blockade being dismantled in La Tamoa, on the main road to Noumea’s international airport of La Tontouta.
The hub is still closed to commercial flights, although the access road was one of the first targets for police clearance actions.
Local carrier Aircalin said on Friday that La Tontouta airport will not reopen until at least 9:00 am on Monday (2200 GMT on June 2).
The airport in Noumea was shut on May 14, a day after protests erupted.
Days of clashes, looting and arson have left seven people dead and hundreds injured.
New Caledonia has been ruled from Paris since the nineteenth century but many indigenous Kanaks want fuller autonomy or independence. AFP
France had been planning to give voting rights to thousands of non-indigenous long-term residents, something Kanaks said would dilute the influence of their votes.
French President Emmanuel Macron pledged during a lightning trip to the territory last week that the voting reforms would “not be forced through.”
Since then, tensions have eased significantly and a state of emergency was lifted on Tuesday.
New Caledonia is one of several territories in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific that are still part of France in the post-colonial era, giving Paris a global footprint unmatched by any other European power.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “DFA raises Alert Level 2 in New Caledonia amid unrest”.
