Situation update on the violence in New Caledonia

New Caledonia has been the scene of particularly violent rioting since 13 May, which have rocked the capital city, Nouméa. The violence has erupted over a draft constitutional bill aimed at reforming the territory’s electorate passed by the National Assembly in the night of 14 to 15 May. The adoption of the bill, which would allow all citizens who have lived in the territory for at least ten years to vote in provincial elections, has sparked anger among Kanak pro-independence supporters, who claim that such an expansion could curb their electoral influence and push the Kanak indigenous people further into a minority. Their anger has taken the form of violent demonstrations, which have deteriorated into rioting plunging the South Pacific French territory into an unprecedented identity, political and security crisis.