Inside New Caledonia’s Fight for Freedom | Foreign Correspondent

I'm about to board a flight to the South Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia. The French territory was cut off from the world for nearly a month and flights are still sporadic after deadly violence plunged it into a state of chaos. (SHOUTING) The uprising was triggered by a controversial attempt to grant long-term French residents voting rights - a change the independence movement feared would dilute their vote. (MAN SHOUTS) It's unravelled 36 years of peace. How are we gonna live together after? Because there's gonna be an after. We're just not gonna... take our stuff and leave. The violence has caused billions of dollars in damage, at least 10 deaths, and forced the French President to make an emergency visit. Amidst the chaos... ..are extraordinary allegations of a foreign interference operation... (SPEAKS AZERBAIJANI) ..launched from the other side of the world. This beautiful place is a tourist mecca, so the violence that took place here caught many by surprise. But this battle between France and indigenous independence forces has been simmering for decades. I've come to New Caledonia to find out how events spiralled out of control, why France remains in the South Pacific, and whether they can find a solution to this unfolding political crisis. New Caledonia is one of Australia's closest Pacific neighbours. Last year, the archipelago drew 30,000 Australian tourists to its pristine beaches. But instead of paradise, I've arrived to a capital in ruins. It's eerily quiet and the streets are scarred from weeks of violence. It's hard to ignore the French military. France sent more than 3,000 police and troops as the violence erupted. And they're still here. (TYRES SCREECH) I'm at one of the first places where the riots began, in Noumea's northern suburbs. For the last 36 years, peace has been maintained between the independence movement and France, under a deal known as the Noumea Accord. The proposed voting law changed all that. The Indigenous Kanak people make up approximately 40% of the population. And some 32% are living in poverty. Amid a surge in violence that has left eight Kanak protesters and two military officers dead, the French Government is enforcing a strict city-wide curfew. Are you scared? This is a story of two very different cities. We're heading south, where many non-Kanak residents are protecting their homes. This neighbourhood patrol is maintaining surveillance. So, we got the umbrellas. We got chairs. There's always someone here. 24 hours. Louise Adielson is one of the members of the group. She's lived here for 27 years. We are parents. We have teenagers. We have, like, dogs. Everybody just got together. We were listening on the media and TV and radio and we just said, "We have to protect our houses." So, we block the whole area around here. In the last few weeks, they've been busy. MAN: She's, like, one metre away from him. This video shows a resident just outside the barricade, trying to get to her house... ..when she's attacked. MAN: OK. Across Noumea, some citizen groups have been using weapons to protect themselves. And do you have guns? No. We are... No. Nobody has guns. We are... You know, we have a couple of rocks. If somebody throws rocks at us, we will throw it back. The violence has exposed the deep divisions here. Do you think that this has gone deeper than just a... ..you know, a disagreement about this independence vote? Has it gone into race? Oh, absolutely. Yes. Um, but it's, uh... it's the other way around. Uh, we get insulted every single day because we're white. (CONVERSATION IN FRENCH) LOUISE ADIELSON: How are we gonna live together after? At dawn, north of Noumea... (MAN SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE) ..a funeral is getting under way for 26-year-old Lionel Paita. He was part of a group that put up a roadblock near his village. Two off-duty French military police confronted the group and shots were fired. Lionel's father was nearby. (CRIES) (SINGING IN LOCAL LANGUAGE) Hundreds of mourners have turned out... ..as Lionel is laid to rest under a tree that was planted on the day he was born. (SINGING CONTINUES) (WAILS) Just two days after burying Lionel... ..his father suffered a fatal heart attack. ARCHIVAL NARRATOR: New Caledonia is often called France in the South Pacific. The French came here and established a colony in 1853. MAN: (ON ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE) French settlers of a century ago set out to superimpose a French atmosphere on Noumea, instead of adapting themselves to their new surroundings on a South Pacific island. Tensions have always been there... ..but exploded into a decade of deadly violence in the 1980s. REPORTER: Shops, town halls and homes have been burned right across New Caledonia. And only ended after the French Government signed a peace deal that led to the Noumea Accord. France retained control over key areas, like the territory's defence, foreign affairs and legal systems... ..but allowed New Caledonia to form its own government. This is a beautiful building, Roch. Yes. Yeah. Roch Wamytan is a key figure in the main independence movement, the FLNKS, and was a signatory to the Noumea Accord. This valley is Vallee... Vallee des Colons. The Valley of the Colonisers. Valley of the Coloniser. Mm. Under the agreement, a vote for independence was promised via three referenda, but they were all rejected. The last was in 2021, when the territory was ravaged by COVID. (CHEERING) For France, this settled the question of independence. ROCH WAMYTAN: Why is France holding on to New Caledonia? What are the reasons that it wants to keep New Caledonia? We saw the smoke, so just in here, the wheels were burning, all over here. Nancy Travers's ancestors were some of the first French settlers here, known locally as the Caldoche. She was picking up her son on May 13 when the riots began. My son was, "What's happening?" And I said, "Oh, don't worry, they just... "They're just mad because of the votes." And when I went to my bed, like, on Facebook and I realised... .."Oh, my God, what's happened?" And everything was starting to burn. The door... The door is...is still open. Under the Noumea Accord, Nancy has the right to vote but her husband, Bastien, doesn't. Hi, I'm Naomi. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. He emigrated from France 24 years ago and was hoping the reform would pass. Nancy and Bastien believe the territory needs France to survive. At the heart of this debate, loyalists believe New Caledonia couldn't survive without France. It contributes 20% of the New Caledonian budget... ..funding things like this local high school, which was destroyed in the riots. Bonjour. Today, New Caledonia's Vice President, Isabelle Champmoreau, has come to survey the damage. It's going to take at least a year for the school to be rebuilt. France's interest in the Pacific is more than its colonial history. New Caledonia has the fifth-highest nickel reserves in the world. Pierre-Christophe Pantz tracks France's role in the Pacific. France has a major military base here. Its presence means it has the second-largest maritime domain in the world. (SHOUTING AND WHISTLING) In the lead-up to the unrest, another foreign player entered the scene. Azerbaijani flags began appearing at independence rallies in Noumea. Pictured here is Christian Tein, one of the leaders of the independence collective, the CCAT - an accused instigator of the riots. The flags were a sign of what the French say was a targeted foreign interference campaign orchestrated thousands of kilometres away. (SPEAKS AZERBAIJANI) (SOLDIERS SHOUT REPLY) French administrative territories outside Europe are nasty remains of the French colonial empire. Last year, members of the independence movement, including Roch Wamytan, flew to Azerbaijan, where a new organisation called the Baku Initiative Group was formed at the instigation of Azerbaijan's President. ..encountering this unprecedented challenge. What is the level of involvement that Azerbaijan's Government has with the independence movement? However, we can reveal the group also offered financial help. What is the financial support that Azerbaijan's Government has given you. France accuses Azerbaijan of using social media to spread misinformation. During the riots, a doctored, provocative image of a dead Kanak protester began circulating online. Now, France's intelligence service conducted an investigation, and they were able to link the authors of these social media posts back to Azerbaijan's Government. Relations between France and Azerbaijan are tense, thanks to French support of one of Azerbaijan's enemies in a longstanding geopolitical conflict. The Baku Initiative Group did not respond to our list of questions. It's 8am in Noumea, and I'm on the way to meet the CCAT leader, Christian Tein. He's been accused of inciting the riots. Yep. But before we arrive... MAN: (ON RADIO) Law enforcement... ..news breaks that he's being arrested. The operation is now. DRIVER: Police block the road. OK, we'll try walking. So, he's just being arrested up, over there, and they think that, tonight, there's going to be even more riots because people are angry about this arrest. As news spreads, the brief spell of calm in Noumea is broken. (BELLS RING) (SHOUTING) (PROTESTERS CHANT) (GUNSHOT) (EXPLOSION) (SHOUTING) Yeah. CAMERA OPERATOR: Yeah, there we go. So, as you can hear, behind me, there's already been explosions that have been happening. We're just a couple of kilometres outside of the city. This is the closest that we can get to the riots. The tension is palpable. MAN: We're getting pulled over. Police are restricting movement in the city. After some questioning, they let us pass. But as we went through the back streets, we surprised a neighbourhood patrol. MAN: Want to see the press IDs? What's up, man? (SHOUTING) Three days later, authorities take the extraordinary step of extraditing Christian Tein to the mainland... ..where he's still being held in solitary confinement. As the rage towards France continues to build... ..so, too, does anger at the rioters. You see, uh, Noumea... Yes. ..there was a lot of smoke. Uh... Mm. The French Government refused our interview requests. The only member of the loyalist movement who agreed to speak is the pro-French politician Sonia Backes. In the wake of the riots, she likened the Kanak protesters to Nazis. How is it in any way helpful to be making such serious statements that involve the Nazis, during this time, when, already, the racial tensions are so high? Uh... Right now, it's a stalemate here in New Caledonia. With no path out of this trouble, violence continues to flare up every few weeks. Military and police sent from France are still here. But the independence movement remains unbowed. Do you think that New Caledonia will ever get independence? (PROTESTERS CHANT IN LOCAL LANGUAGE) (WHISTLING AND CHEERING) Captions by Red Bee Media Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation