Stand with the people of Kanaky New Caledonia

In November 2023, churches and communities gathered at Lifou in Kanaky New Caledonia as the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC), the Pasifika Household of God.  In meeting on the island of Lifou, PCC returned to the place which hosted the inaugural Assembly in 1966.  Their presence also affirmed PCC support for Kanak independence and the wellbeing of its people facing major challenges.  This solidarity has played a significant role already this year.

The Pacific Conference of Churches has been a partner of Christian World Service since its founding.

In May this year, young people took to the streets in protest about moves by the French government to undo the delicate political balance between Kanak leaders, the government and French settlers.  The police responded with force.  In response, PCC issued a statement affirming support for the Kanak people and calling for an end to the violence.

Its General Secretary Rev. James Bhagwan has spoken out for Kanak rights to their own land and in support of its people.

On July 14 PCC asked Pacific peoples to mark Freedom Sunday with prayer and solidarity for Kanaky New Caledonia, Ma’ohi Nui French Polynesia and other communities struggling for decolonisation, self-determination and the flourishing of indigenous and vulnerable communities.

Methodist Church leaders from Aotearoa also issued a statement calling for ‘reconciliation, the righting of injustices and the mitigation of systemic inequalities in Kanaky New Caledonia’ ahead of Freedom Sunday.

PCC at the UN Decolonisation Committee

At the request of PCC, Christian World Service provided funding for James Bhagwan to attend the Special Committee on Decolonisation or C-24 at the United Nations headquarters.

James spoke on behalf of the Eglise Protestante de Kanaky Nouvelle Calédonie (who were unable to attend because of travel restrictions imposed by France), PCC, the World Council of Churches and the Pacific Non-Governmental Alliance (PIANGO).

Speaking to the Committee, James expressed Pacific concerns about the French government’s insistence on holding the third referendum on independence despite Kanak requests that it be delayed because of the major impact of Covid on their community.   PCC and other global voices supported this position to recognise the traditional one year’s mourning period.

“France has turned a deaf ear to the untiring and peaceful calls of the indigenous people of Kanaky-New Caledonia and other pro-independence supporters for a new political process founded on justice, peaceful dialogue, and consensus,” he told the Committee meeting in June.

With many Kanaks unable to attend because of the closure of the airport, his intervention raised important questions about France’s administration of the territory.  The French government is in the process of passing legislation that is likely to give settlers more power at the expense of the Kanak people.

“We call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the draft constitutional law seeking to unfreeze the local electorate roll,” he said.

James asked the Committee to insist that France reconsider its military presence in order to de-escalate the tensions which have now claimed the lives of ten people since protests began on May 13 and heed the repeated and non-violent requests of the FLNKS and other pro-independence groups for a better political agreement.

He further proposed the establishment of an Eminent Persons Group by the Pacific Islands Forum “to mediate between the parties and ensure the best conditions for a just and peaceful dialogue process.”

In concluding his presentation, he emphasised the need for culturally appropriate community trauma healing and peace building.

“The very fact that Kanaky New Caledonia is an agenda item in this meeting and that of the 4th Committee is a reminder that their decolonisation is a matter of ‘WHEN’, not ‘if’ – and a ‘when’ that needs to be sooner rather than later.”

Christian World Service funded development activities to improve livelihoods through its partner, the Eglise Protestante de Kanaky in the 1990s.   Visiting staff have spoken of the sharp contrast between the lives of many of the Kanak people and the French settlers.  The settlers lived as if they were in Paris while the Kanaks often struggled to provide for their families.  Over time these inequities have worsened and the daily struggle for life’s necessities has become more challenging for the indigenous people.

A Colonial History

Closer to Tamaki Makaurau Auckland than Tonga, Kanaky has been rocked by violence and tensions since May 13 when young people took their protest over French action to the streets.

The people of Kanaky have tried to wrest back control of their lands and ocean for generations.  The latest provocation came when France insisted on pushing through legislation to change the constitution, upsetting decades of dialogue and careful negotiation.  The draft legislation that was set to pass through the joint congress when President Marcon called for early elections.  It upset the carefully won balance between the Kanak population and the more recent migrants from France and put in jeopardy their aspirations for independence.  France stands to lose an important economic base in the region that provides income from nickel mining and access to thousands of hectares of the ocean, surrounding Kanaky and Ma’ohi Nui French Polynesia

France ignored the earlier requests of Kanak leaders to delay a third referendum on independence because of the impact of Covid.  Following the traditional one year of mourning after the loss of loved ones most Kanaks boycotted the election.  France refused to accept their position and introduced legislation that would effectively deny the Kanak people a pathway to independence.  In response young Kanaks took their voices to the streets blocking roads.  The French responded with guns, the visit of President Macron and new shipments of weapons.  Kanaks were imprisoned in France and work has begun on a larger prison in Noumea to hold the growing number of people arrested for crimes in a country that provides few opportunities for Kanaks.

First visited and named by Captain James Cook, the islands were annexed by France in 1853 by ‘right of discovery’.  Ignoring the many Kanak clans who lived on the land, the colony established two military outposts.  Settlers and a French governor soon followed.

The governor exerted total control, removing and replacing Kanak chiefs.  By 1868 he confiscated more tribal land without treaty and turning the main island into a penal colony.  Within three years some clan members launched a series of attacks on settlers.  In response the French military killed hundreds of Kanaks, destroyed villages and crops and cut off water supplies.  Every time the Kanaks tried to protect their land, the French took more land, forcing them to seek refuge on lands belonging to other clans and upsetting local subsistence.

The colonists began mining nickel in 1870 which has proved a rich source of income. Kanaky is now the third largest nickel producer in the world.

French settlers had little respect for the Kanak people – the name was derogatory but reclaimed as a source of pride by the country’s main clans.  France did not provide schooling or other services to Kanaks. By the beginning of the twentieth century the population had fallen to 28,000 people from 42,500.

It was only in 1951 when France was recognising the rights of those living in its African colonies that Kanak adults were given the right to vote.  Two years later it set up the first free state primary schools for Kanak children.

There were few options for higher education so it took until 1969 before new leadership could give stronger voice to the growing resentment and the struggle to reclaim the land that had been confiscated.   In 1975, the first activists began calling publicly for independence. Over the next four years support grew to around eighty percent of Kanak voters.

The failure of the French government to recognise Kanak aspirations for independence led to armed clashes between the independence movement, settler militias and the French military in 1984.  In one incident, settlers claimed the lives of ten Kanaks.  Kanaks continued to push for their lands and in 1986, New Caledonia was successfully reinstated on the United Nations Decolonisation list much to France’s displeasure.

Under the leadership of the Front de Liberation National Kanak et Socialist (FLNKS), the independence movement agreed to the participation of long-term residents in discussions about the future but not that of more recent immigrants or employees of the French government.  In 1988 on the island of Ouvea l9 Kanak activists were killed when an occupation of the local gendarmie went wrong.

Talks continued and in 1988, the Matignon Accords began a 10 year process towards independence.  Ten years later, the parties agreed to a new agreement called the Noumea Accords involving a series of three referendums on independence involving Kanaks and long-term settlers over 20 years.  The first referendum held in 2018 was followed by another in 2020.  The vote for independence increased from 43.3% to 46.7%.  However, France unilaterally brought the date of the final referendum forward from 2022 to 2021 despite Kanak opposition.  Kanaks had been badly hit by Covid and were in the midst of the traditional mourning period of one year. France ignored their request, Kanaks boycotted the election and the pro-independence vote dropped to just 3.5%. France went ahead with legislation with little opposition.

The Kanak response to such provocation was swift. In May 2024, young people took to the streets to defend their lands and their people.    France responded with heavy fire killing eight Kanaks and then taking prisoners to France.  Two police officers were also killed.

President Macron visited the territory later in May, and more armaments have been delivered.  The Melanesian Spearhead Group has now called for independent monitoring of the situation. David Small of the Kanak Aotearoa Solidarity Group urged the New Zealand Government to declare the third referendum invalid and called on Foreign Minister Winston Peters to stand up for justice and the rights of the Kanak people.

 

Additional References

Blood on their Banner, David Robie, Pluto Press, 1989

“So near yet to far away: the colonisation and decolonisation of New Zealand and New Caledonia”, paper by Dr David Small, University of Canterbury, July 2024 to be published in Pacific Dynamics, Vol.8, No. 2.

 

Gillian Southey

published in Touchstone, August 2024

23 July 2024

Thanks to Pacific Conference of Churches for images and stories.