The crisis into which New Caledonia plunged in mid-May was discussed at the UN this week. Spokespersons for the independence and non-independence movements, as well as other voices, spoke on Monday before the C24 Decolonization Committee in New York. An international showcase which allowed each camp to express radically different positions.
The crisis that has been shaking Caledonia for a month was at the heart of the C24 discussions (during this session). Monday June 10, the Loyalists took advantage of this platform at the UN to respond to Daniel Goa’s speech. On June 8, during a steering committee of the Caledonian Union, its president spoke of sovereignty “non-negotiable” for September 2025.
“Democracy must be respected. International law must be respected”insisted Françoise Suvé, leader of the Loyalists in the Congress of New Caledonia. “There will be no independence on September 24 [2025] as the president of the Caledonian Union Daniel Goa recently announced during a threatening speech, because the Caledonians opposed it three times under the supervision of the United Nations. It is therefore essential that legitimate independence political forces dissociate themselves from the terrorist actions of the CCAT.”, the Field Action Coordination Unit. “And take the responsibility to join us at the discussion table.”
For Naïa Wateou, fourth vice-president of the Congress and elected loyalist, “thirty years of agreements were reduced to ashes in one night”.
On the pro-independence side, some representatives were unable to go to New York this week. Present for the FLNKS, Samuel Hnepeune recalled that New Caledonia remained on the list of territories to be decolonized.
FLNKS lawyer for forty years, Me François Roux also spoke on behalf of the separatists. Discussions must be held only between the first people and the State, he said. “The intervention, in this instance, of representatives of settlers and allies is a betrayal of the objectives of this committee. It must stop”he pleaded. “I respect individuals, but I ask you to dismiss the statements of those who identify as loyalists to the administering power. And I ask you to only hear from the administering power itself. “ Second point, “I am asking you here to help France decolonize (…) My country does not know how to decolonize.”
“We call on all political forces to give priority to dialogue, without disqualifying this or that stakeholder”declared Isis Jaraud Darnault, France’s political coordinator at the United Nations (read here). “This dialogue must be in line with the spirit of the Nouméa Accords: the construction of a common destiny for New Caledonia based on consensus.” And to add that Paris “will continue its cooperation with the United Nations and the C24, including in this key period.”
Fiji’s representative, Filipo Tarakinikini, spoke on behalf of his archipelago and Papua New Guinea. He urged the C24 to send a UN decolonization mission to New Caledonia.
Created by the United Nations General Assembly in 1961, the decolonization committee monitors the implementation of the international commitment to grant independence to colonized peoples. Seventeen territories fall under its jurisdiction, a majority of which belong to the former British Empire. In the Pacific, American Samoa, French Polynesia, Guam, Pitcairn and Tokelau are on the C24 list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, as well as New Caledonia, which was relisted in 1986.
