France announces agreement to give New Caledonia more autonomy

France and New Caledonia announced an agreement Saturday that would give the semiautonomous Pacific territory more freedoms but stops short of granting it independence, more than a year after violent and deadly protests there against French rule. The agreement would create the "State of New Caledonia" within the French Republic, according to the 13-page document. The state would be enshrined in France's Constitution, and other nations would be allowed to recognize it. "A State of New Caledonia within the Republic: It's a bet on trust," President Emmanuel Macron of France said on social media. The agreement must be approved by both the French parliament and the people of New Caledonia, a collection of Pacific islands with a population of about 270,000. It concludes a tense negotiation involving the French government and the territory's pro- and anti-independence groups. Last year, there were protests and riots in New Caledonia over a proposed amendment to the French Constitution that some Indigenous Kanak people feared would dilute their voting power and hamper their aspiration for independence. Seven people died in the riots, many more were injured, and businesses suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. France declared a state of emergency for the territory, which has large reserves of nickel and is a crucial foothold for France in a region where China is asserting its influence. Hundreds of armed French police officers were mobilized. Macron denounced the protests at the time as an "insurrection movement" and called on pro- and anti-independence groups to negotiate an agreement that would be submitted for approval by a popular referendum in New Caledonia. The agreement announced Saturday would create a New Caledonian nationality and allow for residents to hold dual French and New Caledonian nationality. French citizens who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years would "acquire" New Caledonian nationality. That provision appears to be addressing the discontent that led to the 2024 riots: the French government's backing of a constitutional amendment that would give voting rights to some people who had moved to the territory after 1998. Voting had been put off for more than two decades after the French government agreed in the 1980s to hold an independence referendum, following armed conflict that claimed dozens of lives. Authorities also agreed to freeze the rolls so that new arrivals, who were thought to be more likely to support French rule, would not sway the vote. Tensions have simmered for decades in the territory over long-standing social inequality and the prospect of independence. France annexed New Caledonia in 1853 and populated it with white settlers. Indigenous Kanaks now make up about 40% of the population, while Europeans make up about a quarter. The territory held three independence referendums from 2018 to 2021; all were voted down. Discontent bubbled in 2021 when Macron insisted on holding the third referendum despite pleas from Kanak leaders to delay it because of the coronavirus pandemic. Many Kanak leaders called for a boycott of the vote and have since refused to accept the results, in which 97% of voters wanted the territory to stay in France but just 44% of the population voted. Previous referendums passed with higher voter turnout but smaller margins.