Statement on the ‘Question of New Caledonia’ to the Special Committee

Statement on the ‘Question of New Caledonia’ to the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence of Colonial Countries and Peoples

United Nations Headquarters - 10 June 2024

The chair, members of this august committee, petitioners and observers. 

Greetings from the Pasifika Household of God. May the grace and peace of God be upon you all. 

In June, 2022, I was here as a Petitioner on behalf of faith and civil society organisations of our Pacific region, home to the French colonised territories of Kanaky New Caledonia and Maohi Nui French Polynesia, to raise our concerns on the failure of the referendum process in Kanaky under the Noumea Accord, through the actions of the French Government to fast track the 3rd referendum, despite local, regional and global pleas. 

In the two years since, France has taken further actions that contradict its responsibilities as an administrating power, to uphold one of the most fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter - the fundamental right of all peoples to be free, free from colonial rule. 

France has turned a deaf ear to untiring and peaceful calls of the indigenous people of Kanaky-New Caledonia and other pro-independence supporters for a new political process, founded on justice, peaceful dialogue and consensus and has demonstrated a continued inability and unwillingness to remain a neutral and trustworthy party under the Noumea Accord.

Today, on behalf of Pacific Churches and Civil Society we reiterate our collective concerns that we have made in a number of statements on the current situation in Kanaky.

Recalling these statements and on behalf of the Église Protestante de Kanaky Nouvelle-Calédonie, and the Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisation Alliance, the Pacific Conference of Churches calls:

1. For the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the draft constitutional law seeking to unfreeze the local electorate roll. Noting that the Presidents of four other French overseas territories have called for the withdrawal of the voting changes;

2. On the French Government to reconsider, as an essential step to de-escalating tensions in the territory, any further deployment of armed forces to Kanaky;

3. On the French Presidency to cease any further attempts to enforce externally designed and controlled pathways to determine the political future of Kanaky, including a possible referendum in France to unfreeze the territory’s electorate roll;

4. On other parties to the Noumea Accord to heed the repeated and non-violent requests of the FLNKS and other pro-independence voices, over the last 2-3 years, to allow more conducive conditions for dialogue and negotiation for a better political agreement, and to give the process all the time necessary to do so; 

5.For the Pacific Islands Forum to establish an Eminent Persons Group, comprising of French, Pacific Islands and international personalities, in collaboration with the C24, as a matter of urgency to mediate between the parties and ensure the best conditions to enable a just and peaceful dialogue process for the territory’s political future; and finally, 

6. Beyond the political dialogue process, commitments to be made and kept for culturally appropriate community trauma healing for all communities in Kanaky and for community dialogue processes, particularly between Kanak and Caldoche for peacebuilding as well as nation building. 

The very fact that Kanaky New Caledonia is an agenda item in this meeting and that of the 4th Committee is a reminder that their decolonisation is a matter of ‘WHEN’, not ‘if’ – and a ‘when’ that needs to be sooner rather than later. 

May God’s blessings of justice, love and liberation be with all the people of Kanaky as they seek their own equality, liberty and fraternity. 

Oleti Atrqatr (Thank you in the Kanak Drehu dialect).

Presented by 

Rev. James Shri Bhagwan

General Secretary, Pacific Conference of Churches

APPENDIX:

Pacific Conference of Churches’ Statement on The Current Situation in Kanaky New Caledonia – 16 May, 2024

Statement by the Alliance of Pacific Solidarity Groups “Pacific groups call on the UN and Pacific Leaders to intervene in Kanaky-New Caledonia” – 20 May, 2024

Église Protestante de Kanaky Nouvelle-Calédonie Open letter to Mr Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic – 5 June, 2024

Statement by the Alliance of Pacific Solidarity Groups “Liberation, Not Repression: Macron Must Start Listening to the indigenous people of Kanaky-New Caledonia” - 5 June, 2024