The New Caledonian government called for the roadblocks in and around the capital of Nouméa to be lifted on Saturday, May 18. The local government of the French territory in the Pacific Ocean "strongly condemns any obstruction to people's access to their essential needs," said a press release.
Since Friday, the state of emergency has restored a tentative calm. However, the capital city, which the authorities say attracted some 10,000 militants and young delinquents at the start of the week, remains in a state of disorder. The official death toll from the violence on stood at six on Saturday, including two gendarmes and three Indigenous Kanak. The latest casualty, a Caldoche (White descendant of settlers) man, was killed on Saturday in the north of Grande Terre, the main island in the archipelago, when he tried to cross a roadblock at Kaala-Gomen, as first reported La 1ère television station and confirmed by officials to Agence France-Presse.
"We're killing each other, we can't go on like this," said Vaimu'a Muliava, a member of the local government. "It's going to be very, very difficult to get back on our feet. But there's still time. Free the roads! It's not just the government's watchword, it's the people's."
According to La 1ère, 146 commercial and public establishments "have burned or are burning." Calls to attack town halls have been posted on social media.
The radical CCAT cell, set up by the pro-independence group Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), claimed to have issued instructions for restraint. In a press release on Friday, it reiterated that it had "mobilized the country for a noble cause" – independence – and held "the State responsible for the loss of human life, the atrocities and the destruction of the country's economic fabric." The French government, which described the CCAT as a "violent mafia" organization, said it was holding two conflicting at once.
In the quiet suburbs of Nouméa, residents of "protection committees" posted videos of friendly, multicultural meals. "Courage! The high commissioner himself said that the neighborhood protection committees should be maintained," posted Virginie Ruffenach, president of the loyalist right-wing Rassemblement party.
There were reports of armed militiamen engaged in manhunts against rioters. And there continued to be high tensions in the northern districts, such as those in the towns of Dumbéa and Païta.
On a platform created for its residents, the South Province offered what it calls "verified information," sharing messages from its loyalist president, Sonia Backès. On Saturday morning, Backès, a former member of President Emmanuel Macron's government, stated that "there were still serious clashes last night, particularly in Magenta. We're still a long way from a return to calm. But we're getting there."
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