The Indigenous World 2025: Kanaky (New Caledonia)

Written on 25 April 2025. Posted in Kanaky - New Caledonia

Kanaky (New Caledonia) is an overseas country and territory of the French Republic located 2,000 km off the north-east coast of Australia. France took possession of Kanaky in 1853. Kanaky is on the UN list of territories to be decolonized (Non-Self-Governing Territories).^[1] This Melanesian territory had been occupied for thousands of years by the Kanak Indigenous people, who had developed their own culture and institutions. Together with French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna, Kanaky is one of three French collectivities in the Pacific. From 1887 until 1946, as Indigenous subjects of the French Empire, the Kanaks were subject to the Code de L’Indigénat (Indigenous Code), which excluded them from political or public engagement, established reservations and restricted their freedom of movement.^[2] In 1946, the Kanak were granted French citizenship. As French citizens, they are able to participate in political elections including municipal, territorial and also provincial, legislative, presidential and European elections.

The Indigenous Kanak People, estimated at 60,000 in 1853, had fallen to 27,000 by 1920.^[3] At the turn of the 1970s, an influx of new groups turned the Indigenous population into a demographic minority (41% of the population). The New Caledonia National Statistics Office reported in its 2019 census that the population of New Caledonia stood at 271,407, where 41.2% of the archipelago's inhabitants identify as Kanak, 24.1% as European and 8.3% as Wallisians and Futunians. The rest of the population is divided between Tahitian, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Ni-vanuatu, other Asian, and other “communities”.^[4]

Kanaky is a member of the groupe du Fer de lance mélanésien [Melanesian Spearhead Group], an alliance of Melanesian countries comprising the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, Indonesia (associate member) and the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), officially created in March 1988 in Port Vila.^[5]

The first Indigenous intellectuals of the 1960s-70s reversed the stigma of the word “Canaque”, making it a symbol of identity and political pride under the initial English spelling of Kanak. The 1998 Nouméa Accord,^[6] the agreement laying out the official process to self-determination, independence, and full sovereignty, officially recognized this terminology.

Most New Caledonian administrations do not disaggregate data by ethnicity, making it difficult to obtain reliable socio-economic indicators on the situation of the Kanak in Kanaky society. However, the Kanak are disproportionately represented in the prison system,^[7] and account for approximately 80% of the inmates of the country's only prison, with Oceanians as a whole (Kanak, Wallisians and Futunians, Polynesians, Ni-Vanuatu) making up 90% despite accounting for less than 50% of the population.

The wealth gap is much more pronounced than in France: in the Nouméa metropolitan area, the poorest 10% of households earn, on average, 13 times less than the richest 10%, whereas this ratio is 5 to 1 in metropolitan France.^[8] According to a recent study conducted in the Northern Province, Kanak People in a similar situation (same age, sex and qualifications) earn an average 32% less than non-Kanak people.^[9]

This article is part of the 39^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous activist Funa-ay Claver, a Bontok Igorot, standing alongside Indigenous youth activists and others. They are protesting against the repressive laws and human rights violations suffered through the actions and projects of the Government of the Philippines and other actors against Indigenous Peoples at President Marcos Jr’s national address on 22 July 2024 in Quezon City, Philippines. The photo was taken by Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2025 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2025 in full here

The imposition of the third referendum

UN resolution 66 (I)^[10] included Kanaky on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories drawn up by the UN from 1946 to 1947.^[11] Following General Assembly resolution 41/41^[12] of 2 December 1986, Kanaky was reinstated on this list in 1988 and considered a Non-Self-Governing Territory within the meaning of the UN Charter. In resolution 41/41, the General Assembly affirmed the inalienable right of the people of Kanaky to self-determination and independence in accordance with the provisions of resolution 1514 (XV).^[13] The Nouméa Accord^[14] provides for the transfer of powers and, inter alia, the evolution of the political organization of Kanaky and process leading to self-determination, independence, and full sovereignty. Two referendums on New Caledonia's accession to full sovereignty were organized in 2018 and 2020. Although Kanak organizations and authorities repeatedly called for the postponement of the 3^rd referendum, the French government maintained the date in 2023, which was marked by the absence of Kanak voters. With an abstention rate of 56.13%, given that Kanak people represent 44% of the population,^[15] this resulted in a win for the “no” vote for the third time. This decisive stage in the region’s process of self-determination was marked by a feeling of deep frustration among the Kanak people. 

The French government’s attempt to suppress recognition of Kanak Indigenous rights and bury the Nouméa Accord

Article 5 of the Nouméa Accord^[16] stipulates that, until the Territory moves towards full sovereignty, the achievements and the institutional framework established by the Accord shall apply irreversibly. However, after the “no” vote in the 3^rd referendum, a new draft agreement known as the “Martyr Project”^[17] was drawn up by the French government. The aim of this agreement was to remove the territory of New Caledonia from the list of territories to be decolonized and to extinguish the rights recognized to the Kanak People in the Nouméa Accord and in the Organic Law of 1999.^[18] The “Martyr Project” was drafted without any consultation of the Kanaks and without the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the customary institutions, including the Customary Senate.

The draft agreement erased all the provisions of the Nouméa Accord recognizing Kanak Indigenous institutions (article 1.2), customary law (article 1.2), customary lands (article 1.4), civil courts with customary assessors (article 1.4) and any reference to the Kanak identity (article 1). Furthermore, the draft also called into question the composition of the electoral bodies, which had been frozen under the Nouméa Accord. Under such conditions, all Kanak stakeholders would withdraw from the process of dialogue on the future status of the Territory, as intended by the French government. The status of this draft agreement, while seemingly abandoned, remains unclear.

Reform of the electoral body forced through

One of the cornerstones of the self-determination process initiated with the Nouméa Accord was the freezing of the electoral body so that Kanaks would not suffer the negative effects of a colonial settlement policy and would not become a minority in their own Territory. Faced with the impasse in the dialogue process on a comprehensive political agreement in January 2024, the Minister of the Interior presented two Bills to the Council of Ministers: one aimed at unfreezing the Kanaky electorate – which was frozen in 1998 following the constitutional reform of 23 February 2007 – and another aimed at postponing the Kanaky provincial elections. These two Bills were drafted, negotiated, and adopted without any participation, consultation, or FPIC of the Kanak People or their customary institutions.

A New Caledonian Member of Parliament, an anti-independence representative, Nicolas Metzdorf, was appointed rapporteur for the Bill concerning the electorate, illustrating the partiality of the French government.^[19] On 14 May 2024, the Bill was adopted by the National Assembly, which introduced a new article 77-1 into the 1958 Constitution, opening up the electorate to all natives and people with at least 10 years' residence in Kanaky. This would add 25,000 people to the electorate. On 2 April 2024, the French Senate approved the Bill at its first reading, while the French Congress was expected to adopt the law in June 2024.

However, on 12 June 2024, the French President announced that the reform would not be submitted to the Congress of Versailles because of the serious violent unrest these proposed Bills and decisions had sparked.^[20]

Discriminatory, excessive, disproportionate and lethal use of force, executions of Kanak human rights defenders during May 2024 protests 

Since 21 February 2024, tens of thousands of Kanak demonstrators have mobilized on several occasions in a peaceful and non-violent manner to denounce the reform of the electoral body, the burial of the Nouméa Accord and the organizational modalities of the 3^rd referendum. The situation deteriorated on 13 and 14 May 2024, the days on which the National Assembly examined and adopted the Bill to modify the electorate. However, the French government's stance exacerbated feelings of marginalization and frustration among part of the Kanak population, leading to riots that lasted several weeks. Numerous calls for calm were made by the Kanak customary authorities. Instead of opening dialogue, the French government militarized the entire island. Seven thousand (7,000) soldiers were deployed from the New Caledonia Pacific Marine Infantry Regiment, soldiers from the French army, police officers and gendarmes, members of the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN), several companies of Companies for Republican Security (CRS) and Search, Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence (RAID), and several armoured vehicles, and armed anti-independence militias joined in. The result was excessive use of force, violence towards Kanak rights defenders and denial of fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, assembly, and movement.^[21]

The report of the Customary Senate to the 142^nd Human Rights Committee^[22] concluded that the seriousness of the violations committed by France since the beginning of 2024 could not be justified. Under the French government, the Indigenous Kanak People of Kanaky suffer general discrimination and violations in the exercise of their rights to political participation and public life and to FPIC in decisions concerning their rights and interests. The report notes that the following violations took place:

• Existence of widespread and persistent practices of racial discrimination, as illustrated by economic and social indicators;
• Repeated outbreaks of racial hatred and violence, racist propaganda or calls for racial intolerance by individuals, groups or organizations, including elected officials or other state authorities;
• Discrimination and incitement to racial hatred encouraged and/or tolerated by the State and its agents on New Caledonian territory;
• Passage of discriminatory laws;
• Policy of segregation or de facto exclusion of members of a group from political, economic, social and cultural life;
• Policies or practice of impunity with regard to: a) acts of violence targeting members of a group on the basis of their race committed by State authorities or private actors; c) [sic] the creation and organization of militias or extremist political groups advocating racist ideas;
• Extrajudicial executions, violence and rape perpetrated by the forces of law and order;
• Arbitrary arrests;
• Detention in inhuman and degrading conditions;
• Denial of the right to a fair trial and infringement of the presumption of innocence; and
• Illegal intervention by law enforcement agencies on customary land.^[23]

Criminalization of Kanak human rights defenders, arbitrary arrests and detentions

On 15 May 2024, by means of two decrees, No. 2024-436 and No. 2024-437, a state of emergency was declared in Kanaky. These decrees allowed searches without the intervention of a judge, house arrests, the banning of the TikTok social media app and a large number of arbitrary arrests and detentions.^[24] On 19 June 2024, 11 Kanak human rights defenders from the Cellule de Coordination des Actions de Terrain (CCAT) were arrested and placed under investigation by the Nouméa gendarmerie and the anti-terrorist unit. They were charged with organized crime and criminal conspiracy. On 22 June, seven of these activists were deported to mainland France.^[25] These arrests revived tensions in the region and, to date, there has been no political response to the crisis from the French government, apart from the repressive treatment of a movement for decolonization and the defence of the rights of Indigenous Peoples.^[26] 

Concluding observations of the report of the 142^nd session of the Human Rights Committee on the sixth periodic report of France

On 4 November 2024, the Human Rights Committee, a committee of independent experts responsible for supervising the application of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by France on 4 November 1980, once again denounced the violations of the human rights of the Kanak People and also called the French State to order in its concluding observations of 7 November 2024.^[27]

In particular, the Committee expressed its concerns at the way in which the third referendum in New Caledonia had been organized, held as it was during the COVID-19 pandemic and a period of customary mourning. In addition, the Committee recommended that France should facilitate and expedite the realization of the right of the Kanak Indigenous People to self-determination by cooperating fully with the Committee of 24, in accordance with UN Charter and UN General Assembly Resolution 1514 containing the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.^[28] Further, it stated that France should consult the Indigenous Kanak People in order to obtain their FPIC before adopting any measure relating to the process of self-determination and to respect the principle of constitutional irreversibility set out in Article 5 of the Nouméa Accord, which guarantees the integrity of the decolonization process.

The Committee reminded France, which signed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2007, that it must ensure the effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in political life in its overseas territories and guarantee respect for the right of Indigenous Peoples to be consulted with a view to obtaining their FPIC prior to the adoption of any legislative measure or project likely to have an impact on the enjoyment of their rights.

In addition, the Committee expressed its concern at the transfer to metropolitan France of the Indigenous rights defenders of the CCAT and their continued detention on remand and called on France to use non-custodial measures as an alternative to detention on remand. It expressed its concern at the persistence of the over-representation of Indigenous Kanak People in the territory's prisons and called for specific measures to be taken to remedy this and to meet their specific needs, including the use of alternative measures to enable Indigenous convicts to serve their sentences in their communities. 

Viro Xulue (Kanak) is a committed Indigenous rights and youth activist currently responsible for human rights and Indigenous Peoples’ rights at the Drehu Customary Council in Kanaky. As a representative of Kanaky, he has participated in UN Treaty Bodies committees and actively advocates for the rights of the Kanak Indigenous People. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This article is part of the 39^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous activist Funa-ay Claver, a Bontok Igorot, standing alongside Indigenous youth activists and others. They are protesting against the repressive laws and human rights violations suffered through the actions and projects of the Government of the Philippines and other actors against Indigenous Peoples at President Marcos Jr’s national address on 22 July 2024 in Quezon City, Philippines. The photo was taken by Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2025 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2025 in full here

Notes and references

^[1] United Nations. “The United Nations and Decolonization – Non-Self-Governing Territories”. Accessed 25 January 2025. https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/nsgt

^[2] Merle, Isabelle and Muckle, Adrian. “The Indigénat and France’s Empire in New Caledonia”. 2022. Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99033-6

^[3] Human Rights Council. “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples on the situation of Kanak People in New Caledonia, France: A7HRC/18/35/Add.6”. 14 September 2011. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/IPeoples/SR/A-HRC-18-35-Add6.pdf

^[4] L’Institut de la statistique et des études économiques de Nouvelle-Calédonie (ISEE). “En Nouvelle-Calédonie, le recensement a lieu tous les cinq ans et concerne l'ensemble de la population. Le dernier a eu lieu en 2019.”  https://www.isee.nc/population/recensement

^[5] Leblic, Isabelle. “Nouvelle-Calédonie 150 ans après la prise de possession.” Journal de la Société des Océanistes 117 (2003): 135-145. http://www.oceanistes.org/fr/journal/117/JSO117Presentation.pdf

^[6] Nouméa Accord. 1998. https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N98/154/14/PDF/N9815414.pdf?OpenElement

^[7] Lin, Catherine. “Poverty in New Caledonia: The Kanak's Struggle.” BORGEN Magazine, 06 November 2020. https://www.borgenmagazine.com/poverty-new-caledonia/

^[8] Lagadec, Gael & Alain Descombels. “L'ombre de la crise.”

MPRA Paper 17871, University Library of Munich, Germany. https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/17871.html

^[9] Cottereau-Reiss P. et Gorohouna S. (2010), “Diversités et inégalités des situations économiques des 18-30 ans résidents de la province Nord en 2005”, in “Etre Jeune en province Nord”, Artypo, Nouméa, 2010.

^[10] United Nations. “General Assembly resolution 66 (I)”. 14 December 1946. https://documents.un.org/doc/resolution/gen/nr0/033/17/pdf/nr003317.pdf

^[11] United Nations. “The United Nations and Decolonization: New Caledonia”. 20 September 2024. https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/nsgt/new-caledonia

^[12] United Nations. “General Assembly resolution 41/41”. 2 December 1986. https://documents.un.org/doc/resolution/gen/nr0/495/49/pdf/nr049549.pdf

^[13] OHCHR. “Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples – General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV)”. 14 December 1960. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/declaration-granting-independence-colonial-countries-and-peoples

^[14] United Nations. “Special Committee on the Situation with regards to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples: New Caledonia”. 3 June 1998, Annex. https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n98/154/14/pdf/n9815414.pdf?OpenElement

^[15] See: Kulesza, Patrick and Levacher, Claire. “Kanaky (New Caledonia)”. In the Indigenous World 2022, edited by Dwayne Mamo 605-614. IWGIA, 2022. https://iwgia.org/en/kanaky-new-caledonia/4689-iw-2022-kanaky-new-caledonia.html

^[16] Nouméa Accord. 1998. https://unterm.un.org/unterm/Display/record/UNHQ/__Noumea_Accord/9BCA7682FD6EEF7985257A85006D4AEB; https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N98/154/14/PDF/N9815414.pdf?OpenElement

^[17] OHCHR. “France: UN experts alarmed by situation of Kanak Indigenous Peoples in the Non-Self-Governing Territory of New Caledonia”. 20 August 2024. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/08/france-un-experts-alarmed-situation-kanak-indigenous-peoples-non-self

^[18] Legifrance. “Loi n° 99-209 organique du 19 mars 1999 relative à la Nouvelle-Calédonie”. 19 March 1999. https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/JORFTEXT000000393606

^[19] Naouna, Jimmy. “Macron’s handling of New Caledonia is not working, we need a new way – New Caledonia needs a new referendum on independence, not more politics from Paris”. The Guardian, 30 May 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/30/new-caledonia-emmanuel-macron-france-independence-referendum

^[20] Libération and AFP. “Nouvelle-Calédonie: Macron «suspend» la réforme électorale contestée”. Libération, 12 June 2024. https://www.liberation.fr/politique/nouvelle-caledonie-macron-suspend-la-reforme-electorale-contestee-20240612_3UA3ZL6OYVCM7EGPTRE73U5CYQ/

^[21] Guibert, Nathalie. “Nouvelle-Calédonie: quand, en pleine insurrection, la gendarmerie utilisait des civils armés pour défendre une caserne”. Le Monde, 6 February 2025. https://www.lemonde.fr/outre-mer/article/2025/02/06/nouvelle-caledonie-quand-en-pleine-insurrection-la-gendarmerie-utilisait-des-civils-armes-pour-defendre-une-caserne_6533841_1840826.html

^[22] Customary Senate of New Caledonia. Interim Report. “Interim report of the Customary Senate for the 142^nd Human Rights Committee: Summary of violations and recommendations – Human rights situation on the Territory of New Caledonia/Kanaky”. tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2FCCPR%2FIFS%2FFRA%2F59930&Lang=en

^[23] Ibid.

^[24] Amnesty International. “Kanaky New Caldonia: French authorities must uphold rights of the Indigenous Kanap people amid unrest.” 17 May 2024. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/05/kanaky-new-caledonia-french-authorities-must-uphold-rights-of-the-indigenous-kanak-people-amid-unrest/

^[25] Derel, Mathurin. “Fresh unrest in New Caledonia after independence activists flown to France for detention”. The Guardian, 24 June 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/24/new-caledonia-unrest-independence-activists-france-detention

^[26] OHCHR Media Center. “France: UN experts alarmed by situation of Kanak Indigenous Peoples in the Non-Self-Governing Territory of New Caledonia”. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/08/france-un-experts-alarmed-situation-kanak-indigenous-peoples-non-self

^[27] International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Human Rights Committee. “Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of France – CCPR/C/FRA/CO/6”.

https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=2737&Lang=en

^[28] OHCHR. “Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples – General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV)”. 14 December 1960. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/declaration-granting-independence-colonial-countries-and-peoples

Tags: Land rights, Human rights, Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Defenders