What is happening in New Caledonia, a French colony off Australia’s coast?

Buildings set on fire, nine people killed, hundreds injured and seven indigenous pro-independence activists detained and sent to France.

Since mid-May, unrest has flared up in New Caledonia, a French colony off the coast of Australia, following the Macron government's proposal of a voting reform bill that the indigenous Kanak people feel will kill their long-cherished hopes of independence.

Since then, France has sent over 3,000 troops and police to the territory and imposed a curfew in the capital, which has been extended until July 22.

The events in New Caledonia are being seen as a microcosm of what is happening in other French colonies – where, too, the original peoples are clamouring to break free from France due to its highly discriminatory and exploitative policies.

The proposed New Caledonia bill was set to grant voting rights to more French people with over 10 years of residency in the region, leaving the indigenous Kanak population at the risk of turning into a permanent minority in their homeland and putting prospects for independence definitively out of reach.

The Kanaks are the natives of the Pacific archipelago when Emperor Napoleon III colonised their homeland in 1853.

What followed the French colonizing it were mass flows of foreigners brought in from France to mine the island’s abundant nickel reserves, which ultimately caused the Kanaks to become a minority in their land. The indigenous comprise 40 percent of the island's population of 270,000 people.

In 1946, the French gave the colony the status of overseas territory, with the French president as its head of state.

New Caledonia gained autonomy through the Noumea Agreement in 1998, which restricted voting rights to pre-1998 residents and their descendants, preventing the indigenous population from becoming a minority.

The Noumea agreement also provided a timetable for independence, with three referendums having since been conducted.

Yet, none of them produced a vote in favour of independence, although the 2021 referendum was boycotted by independence supporters.

Nickel-rich archipelago

New Caledonia holds between 20-30 percent of the world’s nickel, a critical material used for producing electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, steel and other everyday items.

Yet, its nickel industry has been on the verge of collapse due to high costs, political tensions and weak international prices linked to Indonesian competition.

Promising to redeem the South Pacific territory's nickel industry, the French government last year reached a deal pledging up to 200 million euros annually to boost electricity production for New Caledonia’s nickel plants.

With local producers currently facing cheaper competition from Indonesia, the deal would ensure lower production costs for New Caledonia, according to French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.

In exchange, the nickel firms would be expected to commit to supplying more of their output to Europe as the region seeks to secure raw materials for its industries.

However, the proposal sparked sharp criticism from the New Caledonian independence movement, which denounced it as a "colonial pact" that would disproportionately empower France over local authorities, giving the French the possibility to exploit more and more.

The unrest that has swept through New Caledonia since mid-May has caused around $1.1 billion in damage to the island.

The constitutional reform has since been suspended, after President Macron dissolved parliament for the snap elections on June 12.

Christian Tein of the Field Action Coordination Cell (CCAT) which has organised the protests, said they would keep pushing for withdrawal of the electoral reform, as well as, eventually, independence for the territory.