New Caledonia's four MPs Emmanuel Tjibaou, Nicolas Metzdorf, Georges Naturel and Robert Xowie with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday 25 July 2024 Photo: Palais de l'Elysée
Hours after New Caledonia's French Parliamentarians met with President Macron in Paris, the French Pacific archipelago's hours were further relaxed on Friday.
The new hours for the dusk-to-dawn curfew that was initially imposed following violent civil unrest that broke out on 13 May are now from 10 pm to 5 am, starting on Monday 29 July, the French High Commissioner Louis Le Franc said in a release.
The announcement comes in the wake of a meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and a bipartisan delegation of all four elected members for New Caledonia at the French National Assembly (two) and the Senate (two) on Thursday.
They were requesting special assistance from Paris, especially in terms of finance to further help New Caledonia recover from the massive destruction caused by the unrest (for an estimated total, to date, of 2.2 billion Euros).
This also includes an estimated 20,000 persons who have lost their jobs as a result of the crisis.
FILE - Burnt cars are lined up after unrest in Noumea, New Caledonia, on May 15, 2024. Global nickel prices have soared since deadly violence erupted in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia. (AP Photo/Nicolas Job, File) Photo: AP / Nicolas Job
The Paris meeting on Thursday also endorsed the need to further normalise the situation in terms of a full return to law and order, as well as special assistance to gravely affected health services.
A meeting in Paris of all political parties of New Caledonia, pro-France and pro-independence, is now mooted for September, to restore dialogue in the view of a bipartisan and inclusive agreement and roadmap for New Caledonia's long-term political future.
Photo: AFP/Delphine Mayeur
New Caledonia's issues are now believed to be directly dealt with by the French President's office and no longer by his caretaker Home Affairs and Overseas Minister Gérald Darmanin.
The concept of a new high-level "dialogue mission" was also mentioned, after a previous delegation of three high public servants failed in June.
Meanwhile, New Caledonia's provincial elections, which were initially scheduled to take place no later than 15 December 2024, will most probably be further delayed to 2025 to provide more time for all parties to arrive at a forward-looking and comprehensive agreement that is supposed to replace the 26-year-old Nouméa Political Accord.
Le Franc added to date, a total of 2,111 persons have been arrested since the unrest, burning and looting began.
The death toll remains at 10 (eight civilians and two French gendarmes).
Letter to Macron
In a letter sent to Macron on 23 July, the four MPs, all in Paris at the time, had requested the interview with Macron, based on the urgent need to address New Caledonia's multiple issues and the "seriousness of our territory's economic situation" and "unprecedented economic collapse".
They were asking the French government to convert two previous loans granted in 2020 and 2022 in the wake of the Covid crisis into grants.
These loans totalled 415 million Euros.
"Today, the government of New Caledonia finds itself in great difficulty to repay these loans while it now has to meet the urgent needs for reconstruction and economic recovery (...) Transforming these loans into grants would allow New Caledonia to regain some kind of investment capacity", they wrote.