Referendum on the independence of New Caledonia

A temporary visitor to the capital of New Caledonia, Nouméa, 1,800 km from Paris, may have the impression of having arrived in a small French town, despite its tropical climate.

Here you eat croissants for breakfast, pancakes for lunch and petanque (the ball called in Sweden) that is played on the central square.

But the brilliance is misleading – below the surface, there is a tension that, until the 1980s, caused a violent uprising, causing more than 70 deaths.

More than 40% of the island 's inhabitants are cannons, descendants of the Melanese native people who lived here long before the arrival of the French in 1853.

Many guns live outside the capital. a legacy of the time when New Caledonia was a French penitentiary and where indigenous peoples were forced to settle in small reserves – while the natural resources of the islands were exploited without restriction by the authorities colonial.

Självständighetsivrarna Believe that the flight continues today. More than 20% of the world's nickel reserves are located in New Caledonia and the French mining company SLN has long been in control of the recovery.

"We have expired 165 years of exploitation and still live in misery.If we gain independence, the profits of the mine would go, says the militant for independence Aurélien Calixte:
Guards sent.

The mining company means this part of the income is reinvested in the local communities. But the unemployment rate is high, poverty is high and many guns have not completed high school. At the same time, French officials who accept services in New Caledonia can earn up to twice as much as in Paris.

Despite such shortcomings, much has changed since the unrest in the 1980s. New Caledonia gained greater autonomy after the 1988 peace agreement, which also resulted in a referendum on independence. .

Will it be yes?
On Sunday, the group of eyes changes its name and becomes Kanaky and becomes an independent state.

However, for the moment, this indicates In fact, according to the measures, between 60% and 75% of the 175,000 voters oppose independence.

Many French and immigrants from Asia and Oceania are ready not to lose the right to citizenship in France and in the European Union, as well as freedom of movement, not to mention 1.3 billion euros that France locks each year in New Caledonia.

If not, however, it is possible to refer to the independence twice in the next four years, in accordance with the peace agreement.