Tensions rise as French Pacific colony votes on independence

ESCALATING tension in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia ahead of an independence referendum today has prompted the authorities to ban the sale of alcohol and the carrying of firearms this weekend.

The vote in the archipelago east of Australia has polarised its nearly 270,000 inhabitants along ethnic lines, pitting indigenous Kanaks, who mostly favour independence, against white and south-east Asian settlers.

The vote was a condition of a 1988 agreement between separatists and the government that ended four years of violent unrest, culminating in the killings of 25 people during a hostage crisis.

Opinion polls indicate that a majority is likely to vote to remain French.

About 40 per cent of the population are indigenous and 27 per cent are ethnic European. The rest are of mostly Polynesian and Indonesian origin.

Kanak flags flew everywhere on the predominantly Kanak island of Ouvéa, where separatists killed four gendarmes and took 27 others hostage in 1988. Macky Wea, one of the hostagetakers, called for a boycott of the “fake” and “illegitimate” referendum, arguing that “only the colonised people, the Kanaks, should have the right to vote”.

Nevertheless, some Kanaks will vote to stay in France. Simon Loueckhote, a former senator, has been touring Ouvéa, personally putting up posters bearing the slogan “La France est une chance”, which roughly translates as “France is our good fortune”.

Mr Loueckhote, 61, pointed out that the state pumps about £1.15billion per year into New Caledonia. “The islanders are 100 per cent aided, supported and maintained by the public authorities. So when people talk to me about colonisation, I don’t really understand.

“What would become of Kanak dignity if these funds stopped coming and we had to go begging?”

More than 1,000 gendarmes have been deployed over the weekend and shops are banned from selling liquor.

Officially the government is neutral, offering no guidance on how to vote. Some 250 French officials and a dozen UN observers will monitor the poll.

Emmanuel Macron, the president, will address the nation on television today after the result is announced.