There will be no May 13 bis. The State, shocked by the scale of the violence that devastated the archipelago four months ago, made the promise. The curfew, relaxed in recent weeks, has been tightened: until Tuesday 24 September, New Caledonians are prohibited from travelling between 6pm and 5am. The sale of takeaway alcohol is also prohibited, as are gatherings.
“There will be six thousand police, gendarmes and soldiers on the ground. This is seven times the number we had on May 13.”underlines Théophile de Lassus, director of the office of the High Commissioner of the Republic in New Caledonia. “clarify columns” It will also be prepared to destroy potential dams.
The Saint-Louis tribe, where two men were killed on Thursday 19 September during a gendarmerie operation, and the sensitive neighbourhoods of Noumea “will be the subject of special attention”according to authorities. However “There is nothing to confirm today that there will be a resurgence of violence on September 24”believes Théophile de Lassus.
Officially “Citizenship Day” since 2004, this day, a public holiday in the archipelago, marks the seizure of New Caledonia by France in 1853. On that day, in Balade, on the east coast of Grande Terre, Admiral Auguste Febvrier-Despointes raised the tricolours for the first time on the territory. For a long time, New Caledonia celebrated “accession to France” every 24 September, a term that avoided the question of colonisation. With the rise of the demand for independence in the 1970s, the commemoration was contested. In 1974, a counter-demonstration was repressed. From today, the separatists will speak of “Day of mourning for the Kanak people”.
Very precarious calm
The pro-independence camp has not issued any call for demonstrations on September 24. Only the great traditional chiefs gathered within the Inaat Ne Kanaky association intend to make a statement. “unilateral declaration of sovereignty” on the chiefdoms, during a ceremony that will take place on the island of Maré.
But calm remains precarious in the archipelago, and the deaths on Thursday of Samuel Moekia and Johan Kaidine, which brings the total number of dead since the start of the violence to thirteen, has rekindled tensions. Clashes with police have broken out in sensitive areas of Noumea and its suburbs. “We were dealing with groups of four to five people, fifteen at the most. Nothing compared to the thousands of young people who took to the streets on May 13.”“This is a very important step,” said Jean-Marie Cavier, territorial director of the national police. Anger is also brewing outside the town. In Bourail, the large hut marking the entrance to the Deva domain, part of the Southern province, a community led by loyalist leader Sonia Backès, was set on fire.
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