Aussies planning a South Pacific holiday in New Caledonia have been advised to reconsider due to ongoing tensions and crime on the island nation.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade updated its advice on Tuesday, urging to Aussies to to unnecessary travel to the French archipelago as arson attacks and carjackings continue amid civil unrest.
Political protests planned in the coning days could turn violent at short notice, the department warned.
‘Demonstrations and protests may increase leading up to a national public holiday on 24 September,’ the department’s updated Smartraveller site read.
The warnings come despite an increased police and security presence in the region.
The nationwide nightly curfew will be increased between September 21 and 24, and will be enforced between 6pm and 6am
The current curfew is 10pm to 5am.
The department urged Aussies currently in New Caledonia to avoid demonstrations and public gatherings, and to follow the advice of local authorities.
Holidaymakers have been warned to ‘reconsider’ their need to travel to New Caledonia
Island paradise was plunged into protests and riots in May following a French electoral plan
DFAT fears tensions sparked in May could become dangerous in the lead up to a national day
‘Reconsider your need to travel to New Caledonia due to ongoing civil unrest and travel disruptions,’ the site warned.
Historical political tensions between the indigenous Kanak people and the governing French authority came to a head in May after French President Emmanuel Macron planned voting reforms in the territory.
The government had aimed to extend provincial voting rights to French residents who have lived in New Caledonia for more than 10 years.
It would have given 24,000 people the right to vote in the territory, nearly 40 per cent of the territory population is Kanak.
However, the government’s since-suspended ambitions upset locals who believed the move would allay the Kanak vote.
Many feared the New Caledonian Independence movement would be hindered by the plan, plunging the island into a state of chaos and protest.
In May activists clashed with police, beginning civil unrest that is yet to completely come to an end.
Homes, cars and public buildings were set alight amid lengthy riots, further inflamed by the arrests of pro-independence leaders.
The French government sought to reform electoral processes in the territory sparking riots
Ten people have reportedly been killed in the conflicts and tourists have largely deserted the islands.
Australian tourists were among those stranded in May when a state of emergency was declared in New Caledonia and commercial flights were paused in May.
New Caledonia’s Chamber of Commerce estimates some $1 billion in losses and damages on the island since the beginning of the crisis.
Somesuburbs have seen residents maintain hastily-constructed barricades on their streets.
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