New Caledonia - Pacific Islands
History
The Western Pacific was first populated by humans about 3,000 years ago. The Austronesians moved into the area later. The diverse group of people that settled over the Melanesian archipelagos are known as the Lapita. They arrived in the archipelago now commonly known as New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands around 1500 BC. The Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists with influence over a large area of the Pacific.
From about the 11th century Polynesians also arrived and mixed with the populations of the archipelago.
Europeans first sighted New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands in the late 18th century. The British explorer James Cook sighted Grande Terre in 1774 and named it New Caledonia, Caledonia being a Latin name for Scotland. During the same voyage he also named the islands to the north of New Caledonia the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), after the isles off the west coast of Scotland.
Whalers operated off New Caledonia during the 19th century. Sandalwood traders were welcome but as supplies of sandalwood diminished, the traders became abusive. The Europeans brought new diseases such as smallpox, measles, dysentery, influenza, syphilis, and leprosy. Many people died as a result of these diseases. Tensions developed into hostilities, and in 1849 the crew of the American ship Cutter were killed and eaten by the Pouma clan.
As trade in sandalwood declined, it was replaced by a new form of trade, "Blackbirding". Blackbirding was a euphemism for enslaving people from New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, New Hebrides, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands to work in sugar cane plantations in Fiji and Queensland. The trade ceased at the start of the 20th century. The victims of this trade were called Kanakas, a label later shortened to Kanak and adopted by the indigenous population after the French annexation.
New Caledonia was made a French possession in late 1853, a part of an attempt by Napoleon III to rival the British colonies in Australia and New Zealand. Auguste Febvrier Despointes led the expedition that seized the island.
Following the example set by the United Kingdom in parts of nearby Australia, France sent a total of 22,000 convicted felons to penal colonies along the south-west coast of New Caledonia between 1864 and 1922. This number included regular criminals as well as political prisoners such as Parisian socialists and Kabyle nationalists. Towards the end of the penal colony era, free European settlers (including former convicts) and Asian contract workers by far outnumbered the population of forced workers. The indigenous Kanak populations declined drastically in that same period due to introduced diseases and an apartheid-like system called Code de l'Indigénat which imposed severe restrictions on their livelihood, freedom of movement and land ownership.
During World War II, the French South Pacific colonies of New Caledonia, French Polynesia and the New Hebrides joined the Free French Forces. Assisted by Australia,[8] the South Pacific colonies became vital Allied bases in the Pacific Ocean.
American Allied forces built up a major naval base in New Caledonia to combat the advance of Imperial Japan toward Australia, New Zealand, and the Solomon Islands. If left unchecked, Japanese advances threatened to sever the sea lanes between North America and Australia. Nouméa served as a headquarters of the United States Navy and Army in the South Pacific.[9] Due to the proximity of the territory to the South Pacific operations, Nouméa also provided a repair base for damaged American and Allied ships. Nouméa declined in importance as a naval and military base as the American and Allied offensive rapidly moved north and over the Equator.
The Allied military headquarters – a pentagonal complex – was, after the war, taken over as the base for a new regional intergovernmental development organisation: the South Pacific Commission, later known as the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.
New Caledonia has been on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories since 1986. Agitation by the Front de Libération Nationale Kanak Socialiste (FLNKS) for independence began in 1985. The FLNKS (led by the late Jean-Marie Tjibaou, assassinated in 1989) advocated the creation of an independent state of "Kanaky". The troubles culminated in 1988 with a bloody hostage taking in Ouvéa. The unrest led to agreement on increased autonomy in the Matignon Accords of 1988 and the Nouméa Accord of 1998. This Accord describes the devolution process as "irreversible" and also provides for a local Caledonian citizenship, separate official symbols of Caledonian identity (such as a "national" flag), as well as mandating a referendum on the contentious issue of independence from the French Republic sometime after 2014.
Politics
New Caledonia has a unique status between that of an independent country and a normal Overseas department of France.
On the one hand, both a Territorial Congress (Congress of New Caledonia) and government have been established, and are increasingly empowered via the gradual implementation of a devolution of powers from France in favour of New Caledonia, pursuant to the 1998 Nouméa Accord. Key areas (e.g. taxation, labour law, health and hygiene, foreign trade, and others) are already in the hands of the Territorial Congress and government. Further authority will be given to the Territorial Congress in the near future. Ultimately, the French Republic should only remain in charge of foreign affairs, justice, defense, public order, and the treasury. An additional enhancement to New Caledonian autonomy has come in the form of recently-introduced territorial "citizenship": Only New Caledonian "citizens" have the right to vote in local elections. The introduction of this right has been criticised because it creates a second-class status for French citizens living in New Caledonia who do not possess New Caledonian "citizenship" (because they settled in the territory recently).[citation needed] Further signs of increased autonomy for the territory include New Caledonia's right to engage in international cooperation with independent countries of the Pacific Ocean region, the continued use of a local currency (the French Pacific Franc, or CFP) rather than the Euro, as well as the authority of the Territorial Congress to pass statutes overriding French law in a number of areas.
On the other hand, New Caledonia remains a part of the French Republic. The inhabitants of New Caledonia are French citizens, carry French passports and take part in the legislative and presidential French elections.
The Nouméa Accord provides a mechanism for the determination of the ultimate status and degree of New Caledonian territorial autonomy: pursuant to the Accord, the Territorial Congress will have the right to call for a referendum on independence at any time of its choosing after 2014.
The current president of the government elected by the territorial Congress is Philippe Gomès, from the loyalist (i.e. anti-independence) "Caledonia Together" party (Calédonie Ensemble), which split from "Future Together" (Avenir Ensemble) in 2008. "Future Together" is a party of mostly White and Polynesian New Caledonians opposed to independence, but rebelling against the hegemonic and (allegedly) corrupt anti-independence RPCR, led by Jacques Lafleur. Their toppling of the RPCR (until then seen as the only voice of New Caledonian Whites) was a surprise to many, and a sign that New Caledonian society is undergoing changes. "Future Together," as the name implies, is opposed to a racial-oriented vision of New Caledonian political life, one based purely on the political primacy of either the Melanesian native inhabitants or the descendants of European settlers. Rather, it is in favour of a multicultural New Caledonia that retains its existing relationship with France, of governing principles that better reflect the reality of the existence of large populations of Polynesians, Indonesians and other immigrant communities that make up the territory's population. Some members of "Future Together" are even in favour of some form of autonomy or independence, though not necessarily on the same basis as the Melanesian independence parties which seek full independence for New Caledonia.